what are you after?

For me the photography is the biggest excuse to leave the big city and be somewhere outside. It's really pleasure and visual rest after all the traffic jums and people who mostly busy running around. Thas's it.
 
I do some professional photography from time to time. If the client is happy, all is good. For the photos that I take for myself, I'm trying to impress myself. I hardly ever succeed.
 
Way I figure it, you're on your death bed, which would you prefer, a lifetime of personal family images, or a collection of 'great' or 'serious' images. At least I know which I would prefer..
They're not necessarily mutually exclusive, you know.
 
I'm after memory and thought, to capture them the way I see them, to serve as reminders or artifacts of memory long after they are recorded. I am after beauty, to capture it as it crosses my path as I appreciate it, no matter its form. Part of it is the process, the way sometimes an artistic pursuit is a key to open up our synapses of perception and really see and savour, not just flit past them like we may normally do. At the base of it all, I am a visually curious person - I simply like to let my eye casually wander over things.

Re: photography itself, life is simply more important to me, and photography's role for me is simply another way to enjoy and appreciate it. Long gone are my impulses to photograph 'seriously', the personal is a much higher aspiration to me.

Thanks for starting this thread, it has really just made me realise the above in a conscious way.
Beautifully stated.
 
Onte of my favorite quotes -

"I'm always looking outside, trying to look inside.
Trying to tell something that's true.
But maybe nothing is really true.
Except what's out there."

- Robert Frank
 
Got my first real camera in 1968, income earned with cameras, one "T" shirt for doing a car show this year. And they asked me back for next year. Its pure enjoyment for me, especial with my older cameras. Do not think it would be enjoyable if I had to make a living with photography and would probably starve:^)
 
I've been into photography since I got a camera for my 13th birthday in 1974.

In the early 1980's, I had a go at trying to make a supplementary income from portraits and weddings - taking work that he couldn't accommodate from a friend of mine who was a pro. It was fun in some ways but the hassle involved and having to shoot to someone else's brief dissuaded me from wanting to do it full time. I'm glad as, these days, everyone with a digital camera is a wedding photographer. It amazes me how wedding togs manage to keep going, these days.

Photography is still my main passtime. I combine it with travel (local and on holiday) and also my love of wide open spaces / wilderness. Mind you, most of the UK is a manufactured or at least "altered" landscape.

Whilst I'm not a professional photographer. I enjoy working as if I am. I hate slipshod work and I get really pissed with myself if I feel I've taken the lazy option. Most (90% +) of my work is on film as I like the discipline that film requires of me. I'm definitely not anti-digital, though, as I have a Nikon D700 which I enjoy using. However, for me, there's nothing better than loading a fresh roll into whichever camera I'm using at the time.
 
I photograph for personal self inrichment. I love to walk carrying a camera. I spend this time with the Lord & meditating on life & all it has to offer to my soul. They say the gateway to the soul is through the eyes so photography fits me thinks!:)
 
nowadays, i just see images everywhere and try to capture them in a pleasing way that might also invite others to look at and enjoy them.

That's wonderful!

I'm trying to retire but still get some who want me to make photographs.

Thank goodness we humans are social creatures and, most everyone, has the desire/need to express themselves. Photography is a medium to try to express a piece of this that's in each of us.
 
I work with things intangible, the results of my work are obscure. My hobbies have always centered on creating something concrete. Which is why I like the whole process of making a picture come to life. From building the camera, to making the shot, to developing the film, to making a print. The fact that a picture in itself can be a thing of beauty, a time capsule, whatever you want it to be does help.
 
I enjoy the technical and mental process of making a photograph, and the satisfaction of making a good photograph. I consider my photography a process of documenting the world around me and capturing a moment, rather than creating art. I am also pleased to have captured the history of my family, friends, and the events of my life.
 
I'm seeking creative expression that gives voice to my philosophical/spiritual values. I have found that difficult to achieve through photography alone. So I recently started experimenting with combining photography and poetry (my other hobby). My web site has a few first attempts under "Poems."

Not sure where this will lead, but I'm enjoying it very much and feel the practice is deepening both disciplines.

John
 
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