Why do you love photography?
Our FlakPhoto giveaway closes on July 21.
Hey everybody! I just wanted to check in and remind you that I’m giving away a copy of Tim Carpenter’s new book, To Photograph is to Learn How to Die to one of my subscribers this week. More than 70 readers have tossed their hats into the ring, and I wanted to make sure that each of you has an opportunity if you’re interested. You can read an excerpt from Tim’s book and listen to a recording from the author here:
I asked you to tell me why you love photography for a chance to win, and it’s been a lot of fun reading the comment submissions. I thought you’d enjoy these, so I wanted to share a few of them here:
To photograph is to find one’s self. It is spending time and energy to look for, contemplate, and hold onto something worthwhile so that you can go back and contemplate again. When done well, others get to do the same through your photography.
At the end of the day, regardless of if it is artistic expression, documenting memories, or as an effort to create something meaningful to me or anyone else, what I always come back to is that my love for photography stems from being able to give myself permission to really take time to SEE the world around me. With a camera in hand, it's like getting the permission slip to stop and observe and take in all that is unfolding around us, something I cherish in our fast-paced always on the go world we live in these days!
The writer Raymond Carver is reported as saying that “Literature is a force of memory we have not yet understood”, and something in that phrase describes my relationship with photography. A photograph can be a depth charge in our subconscious. It can tell stories, pose riddles, and leave things unsaid. It is a medium of ongoing narrative, a means of using one sense to stimulate others, a mechanism for arresting the viewer’s attention and planting there some seed of a story. It is a way in which we try to understand the world, a lifebelt in a roaring sea.
Photography invites us to look again, to calibrate our gaze, to become aware of the shifting filters we allow or unconsciously let color our visions. Photography opens doors. Offer poetic encounters. Let us fill in the blanks, the not seen, the shadows with our own ghosts, dreams, and fantasies. Above all, as a photographer myself, it has taught me to see beyond, to see with the heart.
Fun, right? There’s more like this here in the comments. Check them out when you have time.
Participation is free and easy — Tell me why you love photography in the giveaway post comments for a chance to win. I’ll draw a random winner from the comments on July 21, 2023. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
One more thing…
Kris Graves sends words about a new project he’s developing. +KGP Books and Humble Ars Foundation are joining forces to create a book that captures the essence of our COVID-impacted lives. Kris is collaborating with Jon Feinstein, Nydia Blas, and Roula Seiklay to curate the project. The submission deadline is July 30, 2023.
Great comments about why people love photography. I have been reading about the early photographers, and the technical challenges they faced. It is amazing that nowadays so many people have the opportunity to take good photos, relatively inexpensively, empowering them to be able to make this huge range of comments about why they love photography.
Photography is a powerful medium for capturing the moments in life that reveal themselves all around us. However, photography has proven itself to be much more valuable to me than a means of preserving memories and telling a story.
I have come to value photography as a tool that reminds me to live in the moment and be acutely aware of life as it unfolds before me. It lowers my guard and encourages me to interact more fully with those I meet during my travels. It teaches me patience and invokes a sense of calm.
I hope to convey these qualities in the images I share.