Photography is not difficult. It is easy to press the button. Turn it on, auto, point, click.
Its why I appreciate my friends in my photography class I teach at the University. There are a large portion in that classroom that really, genuinely want to learn this stuff. They pay attention, absorbing the things I say, and go apply it.
And its a great feeling of satisfaction when something clicks and they “get” it. When they take full control of the tool and make it work for them… or when they realize that its more than just pressing the button and its actually being able to save a moment of time.
Its an intimate experience when the photographer starts to live like this. When his/her life becomes the documentary itself. Yeah, you photograph events and stuff… but then it goes beyond that. It goes to the point that the images mean more to you than what is seen on the screen or the 4×6 piece of paper.
Or even the photographs you don’t even make. The ones made by the other person.
But I remember those moments: the smell of the Americano, the slight uncomfortable bookshelves we sat against, the hard floor… moments like these and many more I would not trade for anything.
So, don’t always think photography is for someone else to see. It may be that photographing for yourself is where things become most significant.
Nevertheless, stay tuned. When one’s life is a documentary – even if really nothing too extraordinary – every day is something new.
-Noah D.
