The forest is lit up.
The word “alive” keeps coming up for me lately. According to Merriam-Webster, the word means “having life, breath, energy, and alertness; being animate.” The quote below came in an email from Lauren Bacon (who asks great questions, by the way, via her curiosity experiments).
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman
She then asked us to consider three important questions.
What makes you come alive? Where are you going? And, who will go with you?
Important questions at any time. We can also ask ourselves what makes us come alive when we’re photographing. Photographs are a two dimensional depiction of a slice of life – a moment of aliveness, so what we felt in that moment should come across in the image.
“The whole world is, to me, very much “alive” – all the little growing things, even the rocks. I can’t look at a swell bit of grass and earth, for instance, without feeling the essential life – the things going on – within them. The same goes for a mountain, or a bit of the ocean, or a magnificent piece of old wood.” ― Ansel Adams via Goodreads
When we talk about getting to essence in our photographs, or making photographs that have impact or soul, we’re really talking about whether our photographs show this essential life that Adams mentions. Sean Kernan, in his book, Looking into the Light, advises that, when looking at one of your own images, don’t ask whether it’s good, but whether it’s alive (Chapter 4). Ask yourself the following questions.
Does it have energy?
Does it have meaning beyond what it is?
Does it make you feel something?
Is there an element of surprise?
Does it tell a story or invite questions?
Kernan suggests creating a folder of photographs that have this aliveness (Chapter 7).
I see that moment when we click the shutter on our cameras as being a type of “photographic namaste” – when the essence or soul or aliveness in you meets the essence or soul or aliveness of what you see.
It’s a moment of pure connection.
That first quote is one of the reasons I began to make photographs — the whole process made me feel more alive than ever. Some times that can fall away as we get distracted from the essence of what we’re doing. Thanks for this great reminder and for introducing me to Sean Kernan. The idea of making an “alive” folder of photographs is just brilliant.
All excellent questions to ask when contemplating a photo. I like the word ‘alive’ both for the feeling I get when looking at an image and I sometimes think that a photo ‘breathes’ and tingles and I can feel its aliveness because it’s as if I become attuned to it and become part of it. I love the idea of creating a folder of photos which feel alive to me!
I really enjoyed this post. I like my photos to tell a story. Often they aren’t “perfect,” but I get a feeing or a memory comes to mind that makes them special to me. I appreciate this reminder of aliveness in photos.
This is such an important concept…the “aliveness” of the experience translated into the photographic image. It is the whole meaning of the contemplative photographic process for me.