On Photography

Photography is about emotions, and only emotions.

Humans started recording images first by hand and then using tools & machines to convey messages and emotions. Our minds search for a message, a meaning when we look at any image. The principles that applied to rock carvings apply to paintings and photographs as well. 

You should be moved to take a picture, not because it looks pretty, not because you are at a location, not because you everyone else is taking pictures, but because you want to re-experience the same moment in the future. And because you want to trigger the same emotions in yourself, and other viewers at a later time.

Those emotions could be awe, immensity, admiration, joy, calmness, or in some cases it could be something negative like fear or loneliness. 

Pictures which evoke an emotion pull the viewer into their world unawares. The viewer is free to create their own imaginary world using the lead offered by the photo. The worlds created may be different, but the emotions, if captured well, remain the same.

So don’t keep a goal of “Taking photos”. 

Immerse yourself in the environs of where you are. Interact with the objects and life around you. Experience the atmosphere. And then, let your emotions decide what to capture. You will not only have an image to remember, but also the story behind it.