“All of my creation is an effort to weave a web of connection with the world. I am always weaving it because it was once broken.” ~ Anais Nin, Winter 1942 via Lisa Congdon and Brain Pickings

In our visual journaling workshop, my co-facilitator Sally Drew asked the group three questions, which I’m going to answer for myself in this post. I believe that these questions are important and should be revisited regularly. Why? Because life is short. There are so many choices in each moment. If we want to make the most of our time here, then it’s important to understand the motivations behind what we choose to do. And, that goes for our photography too. Why photograph if you don’t know why?

Why do I take photographs?

 
Way back in 2012, I wrote,

“When I experience a connection with something just as it is, it becomes more than a subject to be photographed. It reveals something that resonates deep inside of me. It is a magical experience that changes me and the way I see. It opens me up just a little bit more to the world and how everything, including me, belongs.”

The main reason I photograph is to experience the connection that is already there. That connection transforms me. Then, I want to share what I’ve experienced with others so that they can be transformed too. This connection gets lost sometimes when I’m in my head, lost in thoughts about the past or future. Anais Nin’s words describes this well for me.

I’m a visual person. When I did my first 365-day project in 2007, I found that I remembered so much more than usual from that year. The images that I took daily were cemented in my memory.

Photography brings me into the moment. It helps me to distill the essence of that moment within the frame. And, I experience it with all of my senses, not just my sight. Photography helps me to identify what’s most important in the moment – what exactly is resonating and how can I express that in a photograph?

Why am I drawn to my camera as a companion?

 
My mission in life is to fully experience and embrace life with my whole self – mind, body, and heart. I’ve found that my camera helps me to do this. While sometimes the camera can serve to distance ourselves from the world, and it’s important to know when this is happening, it can also help us to be more courageous – visit new places, meet new people, and connect in new ways.

When I have my camera with me, it’s a constant reminder to be here now. When a moment arises where I feel a connection, the photograph becomes a way to honour the moment.

Why do I feel that I don’t know enough to love the photographs I’m taking?

 
Over the past few years, I’ve learned to love my own photographs, and to share them without worrying about how they’ll be received. Maybe I’m not always successful with this, but I’m a lot better than I was. I know that what resonates with me will not resonate with everyone, or even anyone.

Sometimes we don’t know enough and it shows in our photographs. When that happens, many of us get down on ourselves and look to external sources. We think that more knowledge or better tools will fill the gap. Knowing how to use our camera and learning the elements of composition and design are important skills to acquire. What we need most of all, though, is practice (lots of it), self-compassion, and self-awareness.

Maybe it’s simply a matter of looking inside. We need to examine those photographs that we don’t love and reflect on what drew us to them in the first place. We need to ask ourselves how we could have better expressed what we saw. This type of self-reflection works wonders and is the greatest source of learning.

By slowing down (pause and focus) and taking the time to connect to ourselves and express what’s inside, we will quite naturally love our photographs, even when they’re not perfect.

Why do you photograph?