Why Do You Photograph?

I can't tell you why I like this photograph, I just know I get a sense of pleasure from looking at it and it motivates me to keep carrying a camera on my shoulder when I'm out and about.

I know why I photograph the people, places, and things I do: It's because I want to remember how they looked at a particular moment in time. I've lived long enough to realize that these moments are singular and will never happen and look the same way twice. Sometimes it's simply amazing that they happened at all. A photo helps convince me that what I saw was not some dream or hallucination. Something happened. Something existed Right There and it looked Just Like This. Maybe other people will be as fascinated with what's in my photos as I am, maybe not, but I'll keeping taking them just the same. Until some genius perfects time travel, photography is the best way I know of to travel back through time.

So that's why I do it. What about you? Don't be afraid to be honest. I'm not judgemental and I'll monitor any comments to be sure others aren't either. Who knows? Giving the question some well-deserved thought could leave to an "ahah!" moment that elevates your work to the next level--or, if nothing else, it might produce the rationale you need to justify buying a new lens or camera. If either one brings you greater satisfaction then my purpose for today's post has been served.

Comments

[Boglev]

Why do I photograph? Simple. Because I don't want to do anything else. That's why I photograph.

[Frank M.]

The way one looks at photography can be very subjective. To me photography has more to do with the pleasure of working with an image than with capturing moments and preserving reality. To me, once the image is frozen in the film or digital support it usually becomes something unique, independent of the actual circumstances that surrounded the event.
There might be an emotional attachment (sometimes subconscious), but my relation with photographic images tends to be more aesthetic than personal.

[Ian]

Yes, I also want to record what I see, what I like so I can enjoy it over and over and enable others to see the same thing. That was what got me into photography, but nowadays more and more I want to create something beautiful. One day I might succeed.

Ian

[Nikhil Ramkarran]

I want others to see things the way I see them. Not merely as transitory moments that are intended to pass unnoticed, but as time worth recording and reviewing.

There is great diversity in the ways we each see the world around us, and great diversity in the world around us. I want my way of seeing things recorded.

[E.K.]

An important resaon why I photograph is to pay more attention to my surroundings. Photography helps me connect to the world visually.

Part of my income comes from writing fiction, but as a photographer I am a total amateur. Taking pictures for me is free of the often anxiety inducing ambition which can creep into the process when you do art professionally. It's a creative asylum.

[Dennis Ernst]

Photography for me is looking for and sharing the beauty I see all around me. It is one of the healthiest things in life I do. The continual choice of looking for beauty, seeing the good in the moment, nurished body, mind and soul.

The essence of this process becomes very noticable to others and they immediatly identify with that something, in the photo, that they are drawn to.

It's an amazing process to watch and I never seem to loose my facination for it.

[Nicholas Condon]

I take photographs because I enjoy seeing the world like a photographer.

Most of my photos are observations of a particular pattern of light and shadow, or of the geometry of a set of objects when viewed from a certain angle, or of a particular pattern or texture. Before I started carrying a camera regularly, I rarely looked at the world closely enough to see these things. Now, I can't stop seeing things more carefully, and I feel a bit disabled when my camera can't be with me (such as the lab where I work, where they are verboten) to help capture what I see. This opens up the whole world to me as something to appreciate and study.

Plus, the process of taking a picture, working it up on the computer, having it printed, mounting it, framing it, and sharing it with others has proven extraordinarly satisfying.

[emptyspaces]

Good question. I often feel compelled to do it, I suppose, and I don't really know why. It makes me feel like an historian, an artist, and a technician all at once.

[Tommy Williams]

My favorite thing about photography is "developing" the RAW files on my computer. I love the sense of discovery as I tweak the settings in Lightroom or the interesting effects when a photo justifies the extra work in Photoshop.

But I find later on--oh so often--that in addition to the ephemeral pleasure of developing the files, I appreciate having the record of things. And I have so many gaps in my record making, especially of family and friends.

[Gianni Galassi]

In my opinion the photographic process is all about taking subjectivity into objectivity. It's not only its "time machine" function (though I totally agree with you, Gordon, in this respect), but also its power to allow other people -in their own subjectivity, of course- to see "what" (how, when) we saw, no matter the provisional, and sometimes fictional, character of the portrayed reality.

Taking photographs makes me a happy man. Playing with reality and its depiction is a stirring process. Trying to transform all this into meaningful visual artworks is a fulfilling experience.

By the way, the photograph on top of this post is "one of those". Bravo.

[Chromatic Dramatic]

I take photos because I love the thrill of looking at something (person / landscape / whatever) which others may not see, snapping it away, and then seeing / developing them afterwards. I particularly love when you catch a special / interesting moment.

Typically that moment is often disliked by others. I love it because it may be bizarre / different. Others tend to dislike it for the same reasons.

[Randy Bayne]

Everyday I see things that no one else sees. Why should they miss out?

[ralf_b]

Taking photographs is something very productive for me.
To watch them later and to remember how they were taken under which circumstances makes me feeling happy and satisfies me.

Developing the pictures on the monitor, or in the darkroom is a great moment and sharing these pictures even pleases me more, though my pictures from time to time are not understood be the people I love to have next to me.

This always remembers me that you have materialized a moment, that is not always understood by everyone.

It's your picture ..

[Ryan Lavering]

Very interesting responses. I definitely feel a connection and find myself nodding in agreement with each one.

I would have to say that my reasons for pursuing photography are legion:

The engineer in me is constantly fascinated by the complex interplay of mathematics, physics, optics, electronics, manufacturing, etc. that all come into play in the simple click of a button.

The naturalist in me loves the way that all of this technology works in harmony to capture a tiny slice of the infinitely more complicated world around me, and how that image can preserve (in some small way) what the world once was.

The artist and philosopher in me is tickled by the opportunity to capture fleeting moments that maybe -- just maybe -- can communicate to others a little of the quirky way I perceive life.

And the eternal optimist in me doggedly keeps the camera in his hand, constantly hoping for that one moment when everything works in harmony, the shutter snaps, and I capture the perfect image.

[Bruce Robbins]

I think we all have a creative urge and taking photos is how I satisfy mine. I can't paint and I can't compose, therefore I take pictures.

[Rob]

I've been in love with light my entire life. I can remember being three or four and sitting fascinated by the shift in our living room from clear bright light to muted gray to bright light again as passing clouds cast shadows.

Photography's just a way for me to revisit the light I saw at the point I press the shutter.

Sounds hokey, but that's really it.

[JMR]

I have to think about this. I remember that one day I saw an infrared photo in a newspaper and was quite taken with the way it was depicted. From that day forward, I noticed I was more visually attuned and oriented than I realized. I bought a Canon T50 camera (auto only) not knowing how to use it, but quickly learned it and then sold it to buy a multimode Nikon FA. Like a movie, I condense the reality. Today, I definitely shoot as a passion and to keep from going insane in my day to day mundane existence. It is something to look forward to. I get a lot of feedback about my images and often feel guilty when people ask me about the subject of an image and I can't really tell them much, because the truth is, with few exceptions, I am drawn to the light, the shapes, sometimes the feeling of a place, etc. So I guess it's to express my creative self. And luckily people like some of what I do and I can share it.

BTW, love that leading image.

[Tom Stermitz]

For me the thrill is the surprise of capturing a stunning photo It is like waiting and waiting and finally the fish bites. I'm always amazed when everything works and the picture rocks. That is why I like the bold/color/shape or street/urban/juxtaposition type photos.

It is funny. I see all these moments that should make good photos, and they don't work. Then I hit the shutter and something mundane turns into something beyond perfect.

[Caleb Courteau]

Great question Gordon. I'd say the time machine effect is the primary reason I take photos, as you mentioned in your article. A close second would be the King Midas effect which a camera imparts on objects. Click the shutter and a river stone suddenly becomes a textured, contemplative symbol. Shoot wide open and suspend your loved one in a sea of bokeh. Open the shutter and let the night sky paint itself with star trails. So yes, some of the magic for me is inside the camera itself.

[Sven W]

I take photos to capture what is visually interesting to me. When I'm carrying a camera it helps me "stay in the present" as I'm more receptive to my immediate surroundings (both the static and dynamic aspects).

All of the previous comments to this post (and Gordon's post) strike a chord with me.

Robert Adams 1994 book "Why people photograph" contains this wonderful insight:

“At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honour what is greater and more interesting than what we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect – a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known.”

[Christian]

I take photographs for two reasons. One reason is to preserve and memorialize moments. I mostly do this in pictures of my family (including my two cats). The other reason I photograph is to create beautiful images. I am fascinated by the beauty in nature and sometimes by the beauty in human constructions. Often the beauty I look for and try to showcase is obvious, but sometimes it is subtle and hidden and I can use my photographic skills (to whatever extent what I have could be called skills) to tease out the subtle beauty and "puff it up" for display so that others can see how precious and lovely our world still is.

[Lou Doench]

I like the sound it makes... from the electronic "beep" of my iphone camera to kerchunk of my old k1000, I love that sound. Sometimes I'll spend a whole afternoon shooting and never even look at the pictures. I just enjoy the actual activity of shooting.

[mike r]

I've intentionally skipped the previous comments. I don't want to be influenced yet. I'll read them after posting this.

I photograph because when I'm photographing regularly I see better. We've had bearded iris in our back yard for ten years now. I've thought of them as kind of raggedy flowers. This year I've been on a back-to-film exercise and I started looking at the iris. I found a tremendous amount of beauty and order in there. Very cool.

Which leads to the other reason I photograph. That is when I see something that is very cool, I like to share that experience with others. Sometimes I can do that with a photograph.

[Jim Bousman]

First, I take snap shots. I take snap shots of my home town. The town was lucky to have had a photographer's presence from 1859 to the present. When I first saw a photo of our park square taken in 1859, I knew that I had to record the changes taking place in my time. My pictures are not a work of art, but maybe, 100 years from now (if they are still around) someone will have a window into the past.

[STEVE WILLARD]

I have to say that I like Garry Winogrand's comment,"I like to photograph to see what something looks like photographed". I also like the idea that on a very small scale I'm making order out of chaos.