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Archive 2014 · What is your WHY?

  
 
ricardovaste
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · What is your WHY?


Why do you photograph?

"I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed" - Winogrand

^ is this the medium? Maybe for some...

So to kick things off, I thought I'd share with you my why. I'm sure it might be quite personal for each individual, so my answer might be a little ambiguous or maybe even strange. It isn't any glorified answer-to-everything, it's just why I do something. It's related to the other thread, about direction, goals and satisfying them, so I thought we might find it useful to share why we photograph something at all. I'm sure we'll all have different reasons, and hopefully it'll be good to read

So for me I photograph because I want to share my opinion. Sometimes it can be a broad opinion on events or ideas or perspective, sometimes something much more specific. I like photography, of course. I like taking photographs some of the time, but a lot of the time the act is painful as well. I'm not really someone who strives for perfect design and execution, to the extent of which the image is already in the minds-eye, and the the act itself satisfies that desire. I like good design, but discovering an image is as much a part of the joy. And then how that image effects people, that's definitely a big part of it for me. If I'm saying something with an image and that resonates with someone, maybe moves them to feel something from the intended meaning behind it, that is probably the best feeling I get from it. To take something that is ever changing in front of you, see something in it, say what you intend with it, and then have that intended meaning or feeling reciprocated - perhaps that is as well as I can describe it.

I hope this isn't too painful for all of you

http://www.rharris-images.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Jam-Maker.jpg

http://www.rharris-images.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Train-Romance-890-feature.jpg



Aug 07, 2014 at 10:03 AM
Toothwalker
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · What is your WHY?


Why did you post this?


Aug 07, 2014 at 10:07 AM
ricardovaste
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · What is your WHY?


Toothwalker wrote:
Why did you post this?


Why did you post that?



Aug 07, 2014 at 10:07 AM
Toothwalker
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · What is your WHY?


ricardovaste wrote:
Why did you post that?


That was my why.




Aug 07, 2014 at 10:12 AM
Chrissearle
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · What is your WHY?


I do it because I love the challenge of creating an image that I like.


Aug 07, 2014 at 10:12 AM
phigment
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · What is your WHY?


It helps me notice my surroundings.


Aug 07, 2014 at 10:17 AM
ricardovaste
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · What is your WHY?


Toothwalker wrote:
That was my why.



Is there a language barrier here? At the moment it comes off like you're being petty, childish, just trying to derail the thread. A troll. Is that WHY you wrote that? Thanks for your input.



Aug 07, 2014 at 10:17 AM
Mescalamba
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · What is your WHY?


Cause I like beauty in every form and I am trying to capture that.

If that makes any sense..


Plus I used it as therapy for myself. If you see world way I do, you need to try to see beauty in it. And try to capture it, when you see it.

That said, darker part of me is on top right now, so Im not shooting..


(might help understanding, if you wish to)
http://mescalamba.tumblr.com



Aug 07, 2014 at 10:17 AM
photoomaha
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · What is your WHY?


Wow, great post! I think it is a great place to have this type of discussion.

We get so wrapped up in gear and what-not, that this is 'the' reason we all do it. To fulfill our "why".

There are so many incredibly talented and inspirational folks on this board, I would love to hear what makes them get out and create.

For me, I don't know if I can come up with just one reason why.

I really like exploring and digging a little deeper when traveling. I really like interacting with people and seeing the smile on their face when I show them a cool portrait on the back of my camera.

Photography has opened a ton of doors for me, with meeting politicians, to riding in helicopters, to hiking in the mountains.

I guess I have a lot of "why"!!



Aug 07, 2014 at 10:30 AM
Toothwalker
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · What is your WHY?


ricardovaste wrote:
Is there a language barrier here? At the moment it comes off like you're being petty, childish, just trying to derail the thread. A troll. Is that WHY you wrote that? Thanks for your input.


It was just my sense of humor. Misplaced humor, from the look of things.





Aug 07, 2014 at 10:38 AM
nehemiahphoto
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · What is your WHY?


1) It's one of the most sophisticated and pleasant ways to not be bored.

2) It's beautiful.

3) It's a place of autonomy. I am told where to walk, to use a turn signal at such a point, to pay this bill, to show up here, to pick this person up, to fulfill this obligation, to eat this food. When you really consider it, so much of our life is consigned to false decision, or decisions with little actual free choice. Life is full of challenges, but they are not challenges of my choosing, nor challenges where I set the barriers.

In photography, there are some technical hurdles, but most of the challenge before me are a lack or originality, vision, thought, or execution. So the amount of growth is entirely dictated by me. The dividends are huge, to me. So it's my own little haven away from the rest of the world. It's pure, it produces beautiful things, rendering a sense of accomplishment and growth.

4) It's nearly infinite in that you are just recording things in the world. So many things to record, in so many ways.

There are others, but I don't want to dominate the post.



Aug 07, 2014 at 10:45 AM
U.C.
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · What is your WHY?


Good question! Makes me think.

1. I want to keep my memories alive as long as I live and maybe some time after that for other people

2. I like to show how I see my world (if I have my camera with me )

3. I like to express my creativity, although I am more a gear junky



Aug 07, 2014 at 11:00 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · What is your WHY?


ricardovaste wrote:
Is there a language barrier here? At the moment it comes off like you're being petty, childish, just trying to derail the thread. A troll. Is that WHY you wrote that? Thanks for your input.


Toothwalker wrote:
It was just my sense of humor. Misplaced humor, from the look of things.


Swing & a miss (been there, done that) ... although I suspected it to be "playfulness"

Props given to two well-respected FM'ers, I really couldn't conceive any trolling intended.




Aug 07, 2014 at 11:09 AM
Beni
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · What is your WHY?


Because I can't draw.


Aug 07, 2014 at 11:17 AM
deoredx
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · What is your WHY?


It's a question of legalities.

Camera = Legal to shoot in public
Guns = Illegal to shoot in public.



Aug 07, 2014 at 11:32 AM
justruss
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · What is your WHY?


Because it puts food in my gullet, beer in my rotting gut-- and lets me see parts of the world I might not otherwise see.

I'd be shooting anyway, of course. Probably, to a high degree, for the same reason Beni mentioned: Because I can't draw. Seriously, I've tried, and I'm too lazy to learn.

It's hard to get more concrete than that. I shoot for the same reason I write: I don't really feel like I have any choice.



Aug 07, 2014 at 11:38 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · What is your WHY?


Ummm, because it's fun.
Because I can't draw a stick man with a ruler.

Well, it started out that way at least.

Now, it's because I use it as a means to better understand the presentation of imagery messages and learn better about physics/color/light/message/world/perception/physiology/psychology as those who went before us at making images ... in all its variant forms (i.e. photography, painting, charcoal, line, etc.)



Aug 07, 2014 at 12:00 PM
carstenw
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · What is your WHY?


Toothwalker wrote:
It was just my sense of humor. Misplaced humor, from the look of things.



I think it might have benefitted from a smiley It came across rather brutal, even though I know that you are not that confrontational. At least, I think I do



Aug 07, 2014 at 12:09 PM
goosemang
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · What is your WHY?


because some day your photos will be:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1308893



Aug 07, 2014 at 12:10 PM
carstenw
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · What is your WHY?


Beni wrote:
Because I can't draw.


Even though I can draw!



Aug 07, 2014 at 12:10 PM
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