I was sitting in my hot tub this morning listening to the birds sing all around me. One bird, I think it is a nuthatch, will sing, and then I will whistle the same tune. We will continue this exchange until he is in a tree very close to me. I think he is probably looking for a mate. Anyway, as I whistle, I think about all sorts of things. Today I was thinking about the art of seeing in photography. The hot tub is not that hot this morning because it is spring in the mountains, and its purpose has changed to a thinking place rather than a place to take off the chill of winter.
So it is time to think about the Purpose of Photography.
We stand with camera in hand wondering what to do with this piece of technology and how to make it work for us. Hold on, cowboy, let’s think about this a little harder. When we take that camera in hand, whether it be a big DSLR or maybe a small iphone, we have a goal to go out and create wonderful masterpieces that people will want to hang in their homes, and museums will want to hang to honor us as great photographers…….. Well, maybe that’s the goal for some, but the purpose of photography is maybe just to allow us to see the world around us through different eyes. The camera, whatever type it is, maybe forces or allows us to see deeper into the beauties around us as it becomes an extension of ourself.
Several years ago on the island of Molokai, I met an older gentleman named Jim Coffey. He and his beautiful wife, Joy, were attending a workshop at the Hui Ho’olana. Jim had been retired for several years and was interested in the creativity taught by the wonderful, creative souls: Rikki Cooke, Dewitt Jones, Jonathan Kingston, and the pretty little lady, Theresa Airey, who turns photos into painted works of art with flair and a pixy smile on her face. Plus the wonderful Bronwyn, who chants like Pele herself, holds everything together with her own brand of Hawaiian grace. This is the workshop called Rekindling the Creative Spirit given at the Hui once a year.
Jim had a little difficulty moving too far or too quickly, so he decided that he would try to see what he could create close to home. He started shooting images of the inside of headlights on cars. Yes, you read that right. Because of all the reflective surfaces in the headlights, he was able to get some very interesting and beautiful images. The images also changed accordingly as different colors were reflected in the headlights and different cars were chosen as subjects. Jim learned to see and create within the parameters that were available to him. Jim’s goal was to take pictures, but his purpose was to challenge himself to look deeper at the world around him and experience the world as much as possible for him at this time in his life.
Let’s look at another example. I love to fish. My goal is to go out and catch some fish, maybe even catch a big fish, but my purpose…….now that is a little more complicated. I can go out to fish a stream at dusk, but often, more times than not, I get caught up in the beauty of the sun sinking on the horizon, the deer coming down to drink in the stream, the little floating, featherlike seeds flying everywhere from plants on the stream bank, the sound of the water moving over the rocks in the stream bed.…….  Do you know where I am going with this? The experience of being was far greater than the goal of catching the biggest German brown trout in the stream.
So what is your purpose in photography? Is it to see, to experience, to fall in love with the world around you as you look deeper into its beautiful mysteries? That is my purpose. I want to listen, to see, and to fall in love with living and breathing. Then, as my soul is beginning to explode as my senses expand, it is then that I begin to create the images to match the feelings of my soul. That’s when the camera comes up to my eye.
Go out with a purpose to create images that are emotional lifesavers. These are the images that help us relate to the experience of the creation of that image. They keep us tied to that moment of creation. The minute you put the camera to your eye, you are ready to more fully experience the world around you. You will walk with a spring in your step; there will be a smile on your face that might not have been there before. The images might not be award winners or great works of art, not right away anyway, but they will be images that connect with your soul and remind you of the experience of living and loving in the world at the time you created the image.
Learn to see with purpose. Learn to love with purpose. Your life will be richer for it, and the lives of those around you will also be richer. I now look at car headlights with a different eye thanks to a wonderful, gentle man named Jim who taught me to see those things in a different way which had been meaningless to me before I met him. Thank you, Jim, for touching my life and guiding me in my art of seeing.
The purpose is always more important than the goal. The seeing is so much more important than the capturing of the digital image. Learn to see with your heart and soul, and the capturing will fall into place much more easily.
Fano, You have helped me look deeper into the world’s beautiful mysteries and fall more in love with the world around me as I see it through your eyes. After 42 years of marriage, I continue to fall more in love with you as we experience life together! You help me to walk with a spring in my step each day. P.
Thanks Babe. You help me with the spring in my step too.
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