Another idea that I got at some point is that photography is pointless. For artistic shots, someone else has always taken a better shot and I don't need a photo to prove "I was there!" This is a weird idea because I treasure photographs of my family and friends, and yes, even of myself in earlier times. I love the way photographs stir my memories and even take me back in time. When I visited my mom in April, I brought back an entire suitcase full of photographs to scan for her and it's delightful to see my mom as a little girl and my grandmother as an attractive younger woman. The middle and high school photos of myself are a little more disconcerting.
Anyway, I digress. The point is this: I love photos, but don't love photography. I hate the way that taking the picture takes you out of the moment and even becomes more important than what is happening. For example, at my wedding, we took 1,000's of photographs, but I would have rather have another hour mingling with my friends. Speaking of my wedding, I married a photography buff. And we're traveling through some of the most beautiful places in America. You can imagine there's a lot of photography going on.
Being with A is changing my view slightly. I can see that he loves photography and for him, it's not just being in a place, but photographing it that is the point. Photography doesn't take him out of the moment, it IS the moment and it CAPTURES a moment. I'm not ready to sign up of a life of being a photography assistant, but there is something special about helping him find that moment. Spotting good frames, watching for quick changes in one direction whille he's shooting in another, carrying the tripod and changing lenses gives me a different type of moment than if I'd just hiked to a place and sat quietly, but in some ways it's a better moment. I feel more connected to my husband and sometimes even to place and event when we manage to capture something special.
I love photography too! I do see your point in missing "the moment" by being behind the camera. I purposely left my camera at home one time when going on a walk through a wildlife refuge once and totally missed a great shot when we were 20 feet away from elephants--could have kicked myself! oh well. you will treasure all those great shots in years to come.
ReplyDeleteI finally succumbed and joined Instagram but I never expected it to really change me. It has. I'm so enjoying putting together a collection of images in this way. I have often taken photos of this or that - sometimes even the same thing that A is taking a better photo of with his higher power camera, sometimes just something I like (for example, I get a kick out of capturing bees and the letter B) and it's fun putting them together. I've never wanted to take the time to print them or put them in a book - they are mostly just for my own amusement so Instagram is perfect. I also have felt guilty/bad/lazy/conflicted/something(?) about not printing photos or photo books of our life, but this has also allowed me to jettison that baggage. The point of photos is to enjoy them, have them to remember things later, share them and make us happy. On FB or IG, I do that and if that's all I ever do with them, it's enough.
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