What Photography Means to Me: A Personal Reflection

October 23rd, 2024

Photo by @harmonyleah

Part 1

Like photography, I have LOVED the way that poetry conveys emotion in such a beautiful way. Since I was in highschool, I would whip out my phone and type furiously into my notes app when something popped into my head.

There was a point in college, a lonely little summer in Cincinnati, OH, where all my friends were away for the summer and I had so much time to myself just to be. It was overwhelming and, well, lonely.

I would pick up my camera and take it to parks, museums, downtown, and everywhere to feel a little less lonely. I was basically enjoying people-watching and just being around others.

And wrote a poem about how it felt:

loneliness feels like fingerprints

of someone left behind

smudges of memories along the lines

loneliness feels like scars

to be reminded that you were pure

but now you are how you are

loneliness feels like photographs

not being taken

but moments being taken from you and lost.

loneliness, i hope, will fade in time

"photographs not taken" - wow, I was dramatic haha. But can you imagine remembering a beautiful moment or a little detail because you took a photo? What does that feel like?

Like a love letter, a poem, a hug, a friend, a mother, photographs make you feel an immense amount.

They freeze time and all of the memory you have with it. It is truly a beautiful thing.

And that is why I love photography. I look back on photos with so much love for the present moment.

Some argue that taking photographs takes you out of the present moment. I couldn't disagree more. In a moment, your mind can be flooded with distractions, worry, or fear. A photograph requires you to not care for those things but to care to be captured as you are.

Do you want to remember the moment in fear of what's next or embracing what life has to offer?

Do you want to remember the moment pretending to be okay or experiencing the validity in your pain?

Do you want to remember the moment posting posed photos to social media or capturing your genuine smiles?

You don't have to pose or smile - just be, just feel, just care for the present moment. This is what photography is about - even in stills, you don't have to have "stillness". You can dance, cry, touch, swim, hug, laugh, etc. There is just no right way to "be" in a photo.

But if you're ever feeling ready to embrace the art of photography, be ready to feel all that you're feeling and what's around you. You'll find it's strangely and magnetically beautiful.