What Photography Means to Me
The definition of photography lines the pages of a thick dictionary– a lifeless, ill-defined term sitting amongst thousands of similarly bland words, simply explained as, “the art, process, or job of taking pictures with a camera.” Easily arguable is the unfathomable level at which “photography and imaging” not only can represent the world around us, but also our inner selves, as cliche as that may sound. To me, photography is a pass into a foreign circle of society, a way of understanding the world that is presented to me, and a lens through which to recognize and appreciate beauty in a new way.
Photography has already opened doors to places I otherwise would not find myself, even as a high school student, mingling with social groups entirely outside of my own, chasing shadows on rooftops and basking in the lights and sounds of live music from the front row. Without it, I may be perceived as an outsider, but with photography, I am a casual observer, and a welcome one at that. The people that surround me, sometimes complete strangers, open up, revealing facets of their personality and mannerisms that I have the opportunity to capture. Simultaneously, photography has broken down my standard of beauty. Being keenly aware of the way mass media manipulates nature and the human body, my own standards of beauty had begun to equate to those misrepresentations of the world. But, photography reintroduced me to the idea that beauty is ever present, and not always manifested in the forms I expect to find it. With a discerning eye, I am capable of capturing that beauty, in turn helping others to see these hidden worldly gems and appreciate my own aesthetic. Indeed, photography can be a mirror, not only displaying what I believe to be beautiful, but functioning to capture my inner desires and personal ideas through my portrayal of the world around me.
Yet despite these, the most beautiful aspect of photography is its evolution alongside mine. As I write, I detail what photography means to me right now, but there's no guarantee that won't change in six months, a decade, or a lifetime. As with any art form, photography should accurately represent my ever-changing mental landscape, a landscape individualized by my thoughts, my ideas, and the way I see my subjects. And therefore, the growth of my photography coincides with my own, an ever-changing companion that will suit me my entire life.
If photography had never been introduced to me, I have no doubt that I would be a completely different person, a person blind to the bits and pieces of beauty all around me, a person acutely unaware of some aspects of himself, and a person who would always be asking, “Why are you taking a picture of that?”
