Photography is the most accessible art form
it is a language, a visual language, with rules
but they are few and basic
and nowadays technology has made the technical aspect approachable by almost anyone
a little bit of knowledge and practice can go a long way
and yet, somehow most of the conversation around photography today is about the how
there are a few reasons why this is this way
on one hand,
there is more money to be made in photography by selling cameras and lenses and accessories
and by teaching photography
than with photography itself
many photographers make more money giving workshops than with their images
and of course, camera manufacturers always want to sell us something new
so there is a lot of interest in this world to make us feel like we are lacking something
that could be a piece of equipment, or it could be a piece of knowledge
maybe a new photography technique that we didn't know about
and don't get me wrong, maybe we do need a new camera
and maybe we do need to learn a few more things
but most of the time, what most photographers are lacking is the answer to the questions:
what are you photographing? and why are you doing it?
and those are much harder questions because no one can answer them for us
so we take the easy route
we believe, we convince ourselves that we can't
do anything until we get that new camera, or that new lens
we get lost in technical books about photography
but then we don't know what to do with all that knowledge
we have great power in our hands, but we don't know what to do with it
you see, it's never been about photography
it's all about what we photograph
we need to be passionate about what we are trying to capture
we have to love the process
we need a reason to get out of bed and expose ourselves to the elements
the joy of using a camera is just not enough to face the cold, the rain, or the snow
time and time again
without a reason, we burn out
photography is a language, and as such, it should be used to say something
we don't need to aim to change the world with our work, though
perhaps, making our little corner of the world a bit better is enough
for us, by finding beauty
and for others, by sharing it
it can be as simple as that, just sharing the beautiful things we see
things we and most people might have missed
I remember when I was growing up here, many years ago
I remember going to school in the morning, on very foggy and cold mornings like today
and I remember not appreciating it as much as I do today
the place is the same, it's barely changed in all these years
and the conditions are very similar
so what's different, what's changed?
it's me
it's the way I see this place, the way I see other places, the way I see the world
photography is the tool I use to find beauty around me
it allows me to see things I had missed before
it's almost like a spiritual experience
it is that search for beauty that drives me, that pushes me
in some places, beauty is easier to find than in others
but I believe that no matter where we are, there's something beautiful to be found
sometimes, it takes more effort
we need to look harder, we need to look closer, we need to pay more attention
but it's there, and it's waiting
sharing not only what I find
but also the drive, the why I do it
is the only meaning I need for my photography
this is the reason why I'll keep getting out as often as I can, for as long as I can
so... what's your reason?
Alright, I hope you enjoyed the video
I hope you found it entertaining, or helpful, or both things
if that was the case, please consider giving me a thumbs up
and subscribing to the channel if you haven't and you want to see more like this
I also want to thank all my patrons for their generous support
I have almost ready a little gift for all of you, in the form of an e-book
so stay tuned for that
I would also like to thank especially today Terry Olsen, one of my patrons
who is also a fellow photographer
and a big supporter of mine
he's been supporting my work for a long time
but he's got amazing work himself as well on his flickr page
I'm gonna leave the link in description down below
so you can check him out, check his work out
I totally recommend it
but that's all for today
thank you so much for watching, and see you in the next one!