My View on Photography And How it Changed
Capturing pictures for posterity is like saying I don’t want to live now, I will live later
Photography
My View on Photography And How it Changed
I used to be so against clicking pictures once upon a time. My thought process was that capturing pictures of beautiful sunsets and picturesque mountains and beaches ran against my philosophy of living-in-the-moment or living totally. Instead of basking in the glory and being present, we are saving that moment for posterity. It’s like saying I don’t want to live now, I will live later.
When we go to any music concert or live match or exhibition, our first urge is to bring out our smartphone and record it, capture it and save it.
I used to wonder, why are people so obsessed with saving pictures and videos for posterity? Why can’t they embrace the present moment fully and totally? If we live moment to moment we won’t feel the need to watch the stuff we have captured earlier.
But as time went on, I had a change of heart and I caught the photography bug.
I used to wonder, why are people so obsessed with saving pictures and videos for posterity? Why can’t they embrace the present moment fully and totally?
Why did I take up Photography
The primary reason was that I was born inherently curious. I have always wanted to know different things.
During my childhood I had so many questions to trouble my parents and teachers with all the time. And it continued, and even today I sometimes share Questions of the day, most of them are existential and philosophical, and psychological, on Whatsapp and Facebook stories.
I always feel like trying that new activity or technology or a gadget or a hobby just for the sake of trying it, just to quench my thirst for curiosity.
I took up learning Mixed-Martial Arts, Piano, playing Lawn Tennis and Table-Tennis, Badminton, Squash, Cricket. But I did not do it to make it big in any of those fields. I started just out of curiosity and stuck with what gave me joy and happiness.
It was the same case with photography. I bought a DSLR because I wanted to try my hand at it. I signed up for an astrophotography trip to Spiti, a trans-Himalayan desert in India with an altitude of approx. 4500 meters above sea level.
What changed my outlook towards Photography
What I saw in Spiti completely blew my mind away. It was a life-changing experience. I cannot describe in words how I felt. You have to experience the ineffable and scintillating beauty first-hand.
Here are some of the pictures that I captured in Spiti. Mind you, those were some of the initial pictures that I clicked with a DSLR. I had no experience whatsoever. I just followed the instructions of my mentor.
After coming back from the trip, when I watched the pictures I had clicked on the big screen, plus the response I got from my friends and family (it was a secondary motivator), I started to rethink my outlook towards photography.
I argued with my older self that photography is just like painting. Photography is also an art. And I believe that the real art is the making of the art.
And I believe that the real art is the making of the art.
So, if one sees the process of taking pictures to be an art, a kind of meditative experience, then I have no qualms with photography. In fact then I will whole-heartedly embrace it. And, that’s what happened.
After that Spiti trip, wherever I went I took my DSLR along. But I made sure of the following things while photographing:
- Get consent of people while taking their pictures.
- Do not disturb animals or birds for wildlife photography.
- Live the moment, the subject with my eyes as well.
And needless to say, the aspect of capturing and saving the moment and the scenery for posterity is a secondary but important benefit of photography.
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