I think everyone should own a camera and learn how to use it. Let me tell you why.
My memory sucks, I can barely remember where I ate lunch the past 3 days. For this reason, and some others, I picked up a camera 10 years ago and vowed to take pictures of everything. I wanted to document my life and my cherished memories. I wanted to remember more of my life, cherish the little moments, and. have something tangible that I could look back on a great moment and remember exactly what I was feeling. There’s something really special in capturing a memory through photography and having it forever. Some of my most cherished pictures aren’t even that good, but they captured memories of some of my favorite moments in time.
Photography is more than art to me. Yes, it’s a mesmerizing art and medium to share beauty captured in light. But to me, photography is much more than that. It’s a passage in time. A way to capture your most important memories and keep them with you to revisit forever. It’s a way to remember the ones you love and how you spent time with them. Photography to me is a magical art that allows you to live life more than once.
For these reasons I encourage everyone to pick up a camera and learn how to use it. Notice I didn’t say iPhone, I said camera. Yes, phone photography is impressive in modern times, but it’s still not like having a camera in your hands. I notice that people with phone photography tend to take out their phone and snap photos they see. Instead, when you have a camera in your hand, you tend to create photos that you imagine. Does that make sense? You don’t just take the first photo you see with a camera. You move more, imagine more, and eventually create an image that was not there when you first looked. Having a camera and skills to control the light allows you to think more about the image you’re trying to create. More than just capturing what you see, you can create what you don’t see.
I also think everyone should document their life more and cherish their memories. In this way I think people are doing this well, they’re just not doing it correctly. What I mean is most people take a ton of photos on their phone, never edit or print them. They only revisit them when it’s time to backup and get a new phone. They only post their big moments and throw all the little moments in the camera roll (usually not even backed up properly). Instead, I encourage everyone to upload their images, edit them, and most importantly PRINT YOUR PHOTOS! There is nothing more magical than holding a print in your hand that you created out of thin air.
You don’t need to spend much, and you don’t need formal education. Especially with technology today, cameras are amazing and very affordable. Right now, I recommend a 5 year old camera for most beginning photographers that you can find used at a great price. I also recommend Youtube university for all your learning needs. A few quick youtube searches will land you on some incredible information. For more information or guidance check out some links below. Good luck on this incredible journey, and just keep shooting.
