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02/10/2005 09:06:01 AM · #76 |
Originally posted by ahaze:
Just added you to my list of favorite photographers. But only because there isn't a place to add you to my list of favorite poets.
Originally posted by zeuszen:
I take pictures because I see them. |
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Poet is right...
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02/10/2005 09:22:36 AM · #77 |
Excellent question!
Like many others here, I was a musician for a long time before I was a photographer. Image was something that irked me as a musician, something that distracted the senses away from the true soul of the art. Similarly, I never felt the outward appearance of a person is a strong indicator of who they are on the inside. In general, I grew up with a very poor visual sense of the world. Maybe it's no coincidence that I have bad eyesight (thank God for contact lenses!).
When I started taking photos, it was like rediscovering the world. I suddenly started really appreciating the image of certain types of music, even if I didn't like the music... and the world became more fresh and colourful. I still think that far too many people in this world never see what is beyond the visual, and I think that is sad. However, it's still great fun to explore on an artistic level. Photography enables me to learn a huge amount about levels of life I had not been interested in before, and keeps on encouraging me to push beyond my boundaries. It's impossible to be insular as a photographer... the act forces you to engage with the world around you, and become a part of it. Most artforms and/or jobs also take place within rigidly defined 'worlds', photography is one of the few roles in life that allows me to breathe psychological fresh air all the time by hopping in-between very different worlds on a constant basis. |
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02/10/2005 09:37:44 AM · #78 |
I take pictures because I'm on a quest to capture a perfect moment in time.
Simple, and yet oh so complex. The shots I love most deeply are not always in focus, not always technically perfect. But they capture that perfect moment.
I practice photography so that eventually everyone in the world will see that perfect moment.
Clara
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02/10/2005 09:48:04 AM · #79 |
Originally posted by JPR:
I like to think of my images as a screen shot from a movie which is why I find setting a mood a crucial element and what I have to work on most. |
The movie thing is interesting. I've never had any sort of desire to make movies, but I've found that I do this often when taking pictures, and also when writing... much more when writing, actually. I think part of that for me is my strong attachment to music, and the way it tends to seem like the songs that are playing or that pop into my head are part of a soundtrack to what's going on. But the atmosphere/mood thing is definitely more easy to manage and recognize as important when you see your work as a still capture from a moving sequence. |
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02/10/2005 10:33:31 AM · #80 |
I am here to learn. I am a teacher and recently took over as yearbook advisor. Before I could teach my students, I needed to learn myself. Actually, we are in the process of learning together.
Most of my entries have been student driven. I just entered a VERY personal photo, and it is getting killed in the voting. I thought it was great (I really did). When my students were helping me decide what to shoot, I was safe; I could stand behind them as an excuse. With my last two shots, it was all me. They are NOT doing well (5.2 and 4.7), and I thought that they were killer. (One is currently being evaluated for possible disqualification, but I swear I followed the advanced editing rules to the letter. I kept checking them as I worked on my image using layers in Photoshop.I am in the process of learning that, too.)
So now I understand the hurt that goes with a low score. OUCH! |
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02/10/2005 12:14:10 PM · #81 |
| all i know it is the kind of addiction i wanna hang on to |
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02/10/2005 12:40:58 PM · #82 |
I started taking photos because of my babies, and thanks to this place They'll have some wonderful memories to look back on when they're older, Keepsakes, dare I say.
Now, more so, it's a link to the outside world. Going from being in the working world to being a homemaker can drive you a little batty if you're not used to it. So it helps to get my mind out of mommie mode and concentrate on something else for a little while.
That and it's just fun. :-)
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02/10/2005 12:50:36 PM · #83 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by zeuszen:
I take pictures because I see them. |
Not that I disagree with most of you wrote, but I find I'm almost the polar opposite to this statement.
I see things, because I take pictures - and that's what I like about photography. |
I think we see things differently, when we look through the viewfinder. When we walk 'around' a subject to choose a perspective, when we change our angle of viewing, when we compose aspects of it, we consider its place, relations, weights and so on, things don't stay the same. In other words, yes, we learn more about what we 'shoot' than what we encounter without a camera, because we come to know more about, in the end, via an increased involvement. And yes, I, too, see because of this.
But don't we also, with some experience, become more conscious, perceptive and sensitive to a photographic potential, to possiblities we may just have missed without it? We begin to 'see' a photo 'before' it is made or taken, depending on our stance or temperament. We 'project' or 'invite' elements of that intrinsical experience onto objects, creatures and places, effectively removing various layers of 'blindness', of a more habitual, familiar and singular way perception.
?
Message edited by author 2005-02-10 12:53:33.
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02/10/2005 12:55:31 PM · #84 |
Originally posted by zeuszen:
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by zeuszen:
I take pictures because I see them. |
Not that I disagree with most of you wrote, but I find I'm almost the polar opposite to this statement.
I see things, because I take pictures - and that's what I like about photography. |
I think we see things differently, when we look through the viewfinder. When we walk 'around' a subject to choose a perspective, when we change our angle of viewing, when we compose aspects of it, we consider its place, relations, weights and so on, things don't stay the same. In other words, yes, learn more about everything we shoot, because we come to know more about, in the end, via our increased involvement with it. And yes, I, too, see because of this.
But don't we also, with some experience, become more conscious, perceptive and sensitive to a photographic potential, to possiblities we may just have missed without it? We begin to 'see' a photo 'before' it is made or taken, depending on our stance or temperament. We 'project' or 'invite' elements of that intrinsical experience onto objects, creatures and places, effectively removing various layers of 'blindness', of a more habitual, familiar and singular way perception.
? |
Sure we do. But the reason I keep taking pictures is because it makes me see things. Really see them. Not for the symbols I've learned to dismiss them with, but for the things they really are. I look more closely. I experience things more directly. I don't have to look through a viewfinder for that to happen either, it permeates my day to day existance. I'm more visually attentive.
Another thing I've come to do is to not regret missed photographic opportunities. I don't carry a camera with me all the time, but I'm taking pictures constantly - composing, enjoying, seeing. |
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02/10/2005 03:19:25 PM · #85 |
| For me photography is very therapeutic. It allows me to get out of my rigid corporate life and rediscover the pleasure of seeing beauty that surrounds us and, to some extent, to reclaim my freedom to explore, learn and experiment. And let me tell you, it is addictive... |
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02/10/2005 03:24:44 PM · #86 |
As others are pointing out, one of the "things" about photography is that it heightens awareness, "teaches" us how to see. And, as Richard Avedon said, "The art of seeing is the beginning of Art."
Robt.
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02/10/2005 05:31:59 PM · #87 |
Thank you blindjustice for asking this question and starting this thread I was able to write another page for my book and website ... anyone want to proof read..?/
The real reason why I take pictures is because my Grandpa and my dad did..No, thats not my real reason but, they have influenced me. I take pictures for many reasons. Here are some of my reasons.
I take pictures because my heart was broke in more ways that can be described. As a child my mother didn't know how to give me shelter when I was feeling lonely. She was over bearing most of my childhood life though now I forgive her. I was the only child. When I was alone I would feel scared. I felt I had lost something. I was ripped from school to school. I had to travel with my parents moving to other places leaving my family and friends behind. Yes, I looked like what you see in the movies of that person in the window looking back giving a tiny smile, all teary eyed, and waving my hand half heartedly. One of my best of friends passed away and I was more scared when my great grandma passed away. I was so scared that I thought I would never see anyone again.
I take pictures because I was around the age of eleven years old when my Grandma helped me buy my first camera.. All of my pictures that I have taking since I got my first camera are of family, friends,events, everyone elses birthday's, houses I lived in, schools I went too, places like landscape on the side of the road, or the beach and mountains on vacations.
Untill now, as I am writing this, I have never thought about how photography has helped me grow stronger. However I have always felt a peace when I am doing anything involving photography. I have always enjoyed arts and crafts. I specially like to paint and draw using all types of media. I have created sculptures with anything that you can name or that is usuable including what one may think is trash. Therefore I think and feel that art can be used in photography.
I take pictures for challenges at Dpchallenge and it gives me a motive to be a member. There I learn all the skills in photography. Dpchallenge has helped me this far and it will help me as I go back to school for the paper that says I have learned, trained, certified, and I am eligible for a profession in the trade. Dpchallenge is a community on the web that makes up photographers of all skill levels and there are many more like these that allow me to connect to people around the globe with my images. I enjoy meeting new people with the same interest and becoming life long cherished friends adopted into my life more like family. Life is too short to not live as friends like Micheal W. Smith's song goes.Currently I am learning to play that song on piano and I have carried that song called Friends with me as a favorite all of my teen and adult life.
I want to take pictures and do better in communication so that I can give back to what has been giving to me. It has been a goal of mine for a long time to show the people that have come in my life how much I appreciate them. I would like to use my skills that I have learned to create images and share them with my community as well as the world. I hope my images will help in anything needed or what life brings. If my images can help in anyway then it will be the best profit of a reward to earn. I have dreamed about this since that first picture I took and viewed with my Grandma what seems so long ago. These are some of my reasons for taking pictures.. The other reasons I believe you already know. And this leaves me with another page and chapter for my personal book about my life.
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02/10/2005 05:37:15 PM · #88 |
for me i cant believe how much i love it. I have never taken something on so strongly before. My only wish is that i could understand it better. I really really want to improve but i have a hard time "getting" it. As soon as someone starts talking about f stops, aperture etc i am so totally lost that it is ridiculous. I so desperately want to understand because i do love it so much.
I love being able to capture my kids emotions when they are unaware of the camera, i love being able to look at simple things differently and saying hey this would make a great photo (even though other people dont see it).
Pure passion. |
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02/10/2005 10:13:42 PM · #89 |
| For me is to emulate the great photographers whose images I've seen and admired. It has been a motivation since I can remember. |
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02/10/2005 11:01:37 PM · #90 |
Hmm. Good question. Because I like the challenge of trying to replicate the beauty around me. I love the area I live in and nature in general. It is my normal subject and I love to share it. Photography gets me out wandering the countyside. Same goes for family stuff. I'm normally the one taking pictures and sending out the CD after a family get together or vacation.
And besides, I'm tired of fishing (no slamon left) and I have always liked techy stuff, ie. digital photography.
edit: and like some others here have already stated, I don't have an artistic bone in my body (I can't draw a stick figure!) so taking pictures is my big chance to use the other half of my brain!
Message edited by author 2005-02-10 23:11:55.
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