"What's the whole point of taking pictures?"

[Richard G]

For the moments where I explore a scene and perceive some geometry that is pleasing. The exploration is as important as the pictures. For different pictures where the light at that moment crystallizes something ordinary into being special. Occasionally to have something delicate and subtly lit achieving an affective element in the photograph that results. And then separate to these thoughts, the necessary antecedent, to be out with a camera, choosing the camera and lens and film, walking, seeing and looking, reading the light, anticipating the light and maybe not taking a single photograph, but being on a walk where my mind is calm and receptive and immersed in this deeply enough that unhelpful mental activity is pushed aside.

 

[Godfrey]

Photographs are used for so many different things, there's no single "whole point of taking photographs."

I am retired now. In my lifetime I have made photographs:
- to make my income
- for exhibition and contests
- for sale as stock material
- for sale/on contract as prints to buyers
- on contract for various clients/jobs/purposes
- for scientific data investigation and analysis
- for forensic studies of places/things/people
- for the sake of personal artistic expression and fulfillment
- for publication as and in books and periodicals
- for illustration of devices, techniques, etc
... and so forth.

I continue to do several of these different things with photography even in retirement.
Simple questions are often not so simply answered.

G

 

[boojum]

My parole officer recommended I find a hobby. ;o)

 

[Darthfeeble]

The point of taking pictures is to have pictures to print.

 

[bcostin]

One reason is as a memory aid. Photos can be mnemonics. They remind me of something I saw, which might be different from what I later remember seeing without the photo. They also usually remind me of how I felt or what I was thinking at the time, which equipment I was using, who I was with, and so forth.

 

[boojum]

One reason is as a memory aid. Photos can be mnemonics. They remind me of something I saw, which might be different from what I later remember seeing without the photo. They also usually remind me of how I felt or what I was thinking at the time, which equipment I was using, who I was with, and so forth.

Agreed. I look at photos I took decades ago and can enjoy again the moment. Occasionally others can enjoy those moments, too. Yes, a major portion of what I shoot is as aides-memoire.

 

[AndyCapp]

"The exploration is as important as the pictures."

Learning to see. Learning to anticipate and create what-if scenarios and then project them on the shard of reality you deemed photoworth?
Did I read you right?

 

[AndyCapp]

Photographs are used for so many different things, there's no single "whole point of taking photographs."

I am retired now. In my lifetime I have made photographs:
- to make my income
- for exhibition and contests
- for sale as stock material
- for sale/on contract as prints to buyers
- on contract for various clients/jobs/purposes
- for scientific data investigation and analysis
- for forensic studies of places/things/people
- for the sake of personal artistic expression and fulfillment
- for publication as and in books and periodicals
- for illustration of devices, techniques, etc
... and so forth.

I continue to do several of these different things with photography even in retirement.
Simple questions are often not so simply answered.

G

I was asked this question, I just passed it on.
I see three motives: Money, prestige and passion. Does that sum it up for you?

 

[Mcary]

I've pretty much always enjoyed taking photos, these days my main reason for taking photos are to relax and to record my vision of the small corner of the world that I live in.

 

[Godfrey]

I was asked this question, I just passed it on.
I see three motives: Money, prestige and passion. Does that sum it up for you?

Not in those words, those words are all emotionally loaded.

I'd put it more as "for my living income" (when that's what I am doing) and "for my personal enjoyment" (when I am not) if you want to simplify things to the point of a first order approximation.

G

 

[nightlight]

I'll have a stab at this.

It's about 'the other'; the other person, the other world, the other skies, the other perspective. Showing, documenting, attempting to widen the viewer's horizon, or attempting to focus the viewer's eye onto a specific frame, a point of detail.

A photo shows what's inside the frame, and leaves the viewer to imagine what could be beyond it. And if we're lucky/hardworking/talented then we trigger a thought process in the viewer, maybe even a desire to understand the frame, to have a conversation with one another.

The gift of sight is wonderful; a photographer has a humble mission to please, interest or humour a viewer who has that gift.

So at the very least, taking pictures honours that gift of sight. So does painting, drawing, movie making and other graphical arts.

Having something to say with photos is the ultimate talent - for me. Still working on that.

 

[Richard G]

Learning to see. Learning to anticipate and create what-if scenarios and then project them on the shard of reality you deemed photoworth?
Did I read you right?

Yes, indeed, that fractionates the process in an important way. I have an inclination which is partly innate, partly trained, so in a very real sense, like we all do in so many ways, I am not only apprehending the world in front to me, but also in a subtle way creating it, because of my inclination, experience, training of myself. All professionals have this, in any field. They see the finished table before they cut the first piece. The what ifs, the explorations, are practical: a shot with this framing, this vantage point etc looking for the real lode already perceived to be inherent in this new subject.

 

[AndyCapp]

"I'll have a stab at this.
Showing, documenting, attempting to widen the viewer's horizon, or attempting to focus the viewer's eye onto a specific frame, a point of detail.
The gift of sight is wonderful; a photographer has a humble mission to please, interest or humour a viewer who has that gift.
Having something to say with photos is the ultimate talent - for me. Still working on that."

How I read this: Learning to see and sharing your point of view with people who resonate.
I have never understood the "having something to say" part. Could you elaborate on what it means for you?

 

[boojum]

When someone takes a photo and likes it and says to someone, "Hey, look at this" that is having something to say. You are just saying something. You are not expected to change the course of history, just to say something. It is manageable. It can be done, and is. QED

 

[Richard G]

I'll have a stab at this.

It's about 'the other'; the other person, the other world, the other skies, the other perspective. Showing, documenting, attempting to widen the viewer's horizon, or attempting to focus the viewer's eye onto a specific frame, a point of detail.

A photo shows what's inside the frame, and leaves the viewer to imagine what could be beyond it. And if we're lucky/hardworking/talented then we trigger a thought process in the viewer, maybe even a desire to understand the frame, to have a conversation with one another.

The gift of sight is wonderful; a photographer has a humble mission to please, interest or humour a viewer who has that gift.

So at the very least, taking pictures honours that gift of sight. So does painting, drawing, movie making and other graphical arts.

Having something to say with photos is the ultimate talent - for me. Still working on that.

I agree with this wonder and gift notion, the gift given, and received. I read somewhere that a photograph contains the essential statement "I was here." I existed, saw this and captured it. There's a guy, I assume, on Instagram I follow, Gaipou. He captures the light somewhere in Asia, its softness in certain moments. All very understated photos with a sensitive sense of what is precious. Sometimes a composition emerges. Saul Leiter had that non-composition approach in many of his photographs. I guess I am sensitive to that with my geometric obsessions.

 

[x-ray]

They’re enjoyable to make for some of us, a record of events, culture and time and a means of archival preservation and sharing them as well. It’s a means of artistic expression for many of us. Making photos also can earn a person a substantial income.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Any psychologist will confirm that we leave hand prints in caves, collect stuff, paint, earn medals, build, and make pictures because we don't like the idea of death. We try to extend our presence on Earth by leaving something behind.

 

[x-ray]

Any psychologist will confirm that we leave hand prints in caves, collect stuff, paint, earn medals, build, and make pictures because we don't like the idea of death. We try to extend our presence on Earth by leaving something behind.

😲

I got interested in photography well before I knew anything about death. Matter of fact leaving something behind didn’t enter my mind until later in my career.

 

[agentlossing]

😲

I got interested in photography well before I knew anything about death. Matter of fact leaving something behind didn’t enter my mind until later in my career.

Same.

 

[JeffS7444]

Among other things, photography allows me to relive spring even in the depths of winter. There are many such magical moments which might otherwise be gone in the proverbial blink of an eye.