People ask me all the time why I love photography. To be honest, it would be shorter to try to explain why I don’t. When answering this question, it boils down to a very simple idea: it makes me see the world in ways most people never get to.
It’s funny, really, I can’t really remember what the world looked like before I was capturing it with a camera. I simply can’t see outside the context of the moment I’d snap the shutter anymore. I consider it a privilege that I notice beauty in objects, moments, reflections, colors and textures. The way sunlight dances on clouds, the many shades of green that make up grass, the way seemingly dull brick walls actually glisten when you get up close to them, the way a water droplet on a window make the sky look a different color. I notice these things, all the time, as if I were always carrying a camera and my life purpose was to document the essence of the world.
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone made fun of me for taking a photo of my reflection in something. Or showing up at a bar with my SLR. Or halting the process of cooking to snap a shot. Or cutting a cruise short to turn the boat around to face the rain clouds. Or taking a friend through Grand Rapids carrying a 22×28 empty picture frame. It makes me wonder how I see things so differently than others. And I think the answer is that I’m just using a different life lens.
Try this: pick up a camera and look at something through the viewfinder. Turn it horizontally. Turn it vertically. Zoom in. Zoom out. See what you need to prioritize or focus on to make it into the frame. Heck, forget the camera, hold your hands up in a rectangle and frame your own view. Look through a telescope. Pick up a video camera. Spy through a peephole. Put on sunglasses. Everything changes. Maybe we just need to apply a different “lens” to see what’s really there, what we just may not have noticed.
Next time you’re with your friends or family, just sit back and observe. Watch shadows on their faces and the way their eyes look when facing the light. Look at the texture of their hair. Watch the moment that happens when two people make eye contact, or how their fingers look when casually, lovingly intertwined. Think about snapping the shutter in that moment, to capture how a moment felt, rather than just what it looked like. You’ll start noticing extraordinary moments. And soon, you’ll start living for them.
Noticing the things I want to remember has made all the difference. I happen to really like the lens through which I see the world. And I think everyone might like their world a little more if they put a new lens to it. The best advice I’ve got is to try to carry some kind of camera with you, everywhere you go. Chase Jarvis, an incredible photographer, says the best camera is the one that’s with you. Whether SLR, point and shoot, cell phone, video, disposable, whatever allows you to capture the moment right when it happens is the best camera in the world. I’m a firm believer that good photography has nothing to do with megapixels, look at these photos from the Great Depression to see why. Grainy, noisy and full of life. Each one tells a story.
This isn’t just about the stuff we see either, adopting a new lens on a view of the world can change your attitude, your mindset and the types of situations you seek out. I’m a firm believer that if we got a camera in the hands of every child, our next generation would be just a little bit better.
What makes you experience the world in a different way than others? How do you wish you could capture that? How will you teach someone else?
Photo: Taken with Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. Exposure 1/60 sec. Aperture f/5.6. Focal length 25mm. ISO Speed 200.
[...] See the world through a new lens [...]