Why the Heck do we do this?

[brightsky]

For me, photography is relaxing. It forces me to really look at my surroundings. It is done purely for enjoyment. It is also a challenge, technically and creatively.

As others have stated, it is documentary. I love looking through old albums of photos taken 30-40 years ago and am so thankful I was able to record those moments. In many cases, those are the only pictures my family has of particular events or people.

Seeing the end result is still magic.

 

[jlw]

Oddly enough, on the same day I read this thread, I received an email from a young lady to whom I recently gave a few prints of some shots I had taken of her in a dance performance. She said, in part:

The photos mean a lot to me. I only have
a very few videos of me dancing and the're pretty much of when I was young
and not so good. So I cherish any pictures for my kids to have when I'm dead
and gone. I don't mean to sound morbid, but it's true.

That was reason enough for me...

 

[wlewisiii]

Amen, sir.

William
(just over the board minimum there...)

 

[hugivza]

Pure, selfish, hedonistic pleasure. I could kid myself and perhaps try to kid others that it is an altruistic pursuit for the benefit of my family and my friends, who doubtless derive some pleasure from my images, but in essence it me fulfilling my own need to do something different for me.

 

[doug clow]

when i was a kid i would see a photo and it seemed almost magical. that is even more so now when im in the dark room. i also feel the need to create and contribute (to what im not sure) and i pretty much suck at everything else.

 

[st3ph3nm]

Because when I paint it looks like crap.

Photography is a creative outlet for me. I don't know exactly why I do it but I am somehow driven to do it. I don' t think I would be as healthy mentally, if I stopped.

Photography is gratifying for me to do. It helps me feel good about myself.

Yep.

Word for word.

Cheers,
Steve

(and I'll prove it, soon as I get all these rolls scanned)

 

[rbiemer]

I shoot because I am a creative person. I'm happy to get paid for being creative(I'm a chef) but the majority of my working time I literally take orders from everbody else. So the photography is a way for me to be creative sheerly for myself. I am happy to have these two outlets as(like some others have said)I'm no good at other forms of expression.
Rob

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I like to see things, details, and photograph them to remember the moment.

 

[thmk]

I cannot sing, write, dance, paint, sculpture... so there is nothing left for me than taking pictures 😉

Cheers
Thomas-Michael

 

[Pherdinand]

i shoot because i enjoy it.
When other people enjoy the results, that's just an extra.
I am selfish enough to do it only for myself.

 

[bluedust]

I shoot because I enjoy it; the feeling I get when I am behind the camera is relaxing and when I produce something decent I am even more satisfied.

What I love about my RF is that it goes everywhere with me and I can really escape from my day to day routine when ever I want. In fact I might just do that now.

 

[nomade]

Because when I paint it looks like crap.

Photography is a creative outlet for me. I don't know exactly why I do it but I am somehow driven to do it. I don' t think I would be as healthy mentally, if I stopped.

Same here, i'm a terrible painter 😀 And i've always thought i can make that up with photography, i can't draw picture but i can see things, and get them rpinted on paper, i can create a photo! I thought i can write sometimes, but not always, sometimes i'm playing guitar but i'm not very entuthiastic about it...

There's also an immesne feeling of joy when clicking the cshutter and then winding the film...

 

[Michael I.]

First of all,for me,to go walking alone with a camera is a meditaion.I see the camera as a buffer between me and others and I am a self centered mysanthrope

 

[FrankS]

Doing photography gets me into that Zen state where I am completely engrossed in the moment and I lose myself for a while.

This helps explain my attraction to manual focus, manual exposure, mechanical cameras that let me do everything myself.

 

[lido]

Big part of my life is dealing with practical things, my work as a computer scientist, running the household, fixing things ...

Photography lets me explore the other part of me, the one that wants to show things that only I see around me. It lets me explore that which is deep inside me, hidden most of the time in my practicality dominated daily routine.

It also lets me explore myself; to push myself to see the world around me differently, to look for beauty in ordinary.

Hope this is not too mushy 😉

 

[FrankS]

Not too mushy. I agree. Photography helps me see beauty in the ordinary.

 

[gns]

A fascination with the process is the best I can come up with.
You would think after 30 years I would have thought this out more, but that's it.
I continually look at good work, seek out more, etc. and am inspired to try to make my own.
I am not good at it, but what is the point of doing something you are good at?
I guess through the process, you learn something about your subject, the the medium, yourself.

Gary

 

[anselwannab]

I think the biggest thing for me is that it makes me focus on the things around me. Most people go thru their day not noticing the little and big things around them. Photography gives me the license to point out those things. A dandelion growing thru the crack in the sidewalk, an interesting juxtapositioning, or shadows cast in odd ways.

I notice things all the time that other people enjoy also when you point them out. People are so focued, they don't see the things around them. A photographic eye is like looking at the world thru a childs eyes. Everything is interesting and there is always something to be discovered.

 

[stevew]

Eyeopener!

Eyeopener!

In the early 70's when I was in college, my friend, who was the school newspaper photographer, showed me a book "The Family of Man" from a traveling exhibit of the same name.

The photography was amazing to me. Then I went to the darkroom with my friend, and watched a print come up in the developer, amazing. I bought a Yashicamat and began shooting for the school paper too. I still see amazing things everyday, some I capture, some I store in my mind. They may not interest anyone else, but they are my little slices of life.

 

[scotty smith]

Photography is one of the few socially acceptable exercises in slowing down, looking closely, and seeing things for what they really are. Nobody gives us a second glance when we are wandering around with a camera or tripod in a beautiful park, for example, but if we were to slowly stare at various objects with a similar intensity of concentration sans photo equipment, we would arouse all sorts of suspicions......