A few things I was thinking about as I looked at random photos on flickr

Photo by Joey Harrison
http://flickr.com/photos/joeyharrison/
Go to his site if you want to see painfully awesome photos.

Once in a while I will go onto flickr to see what people are up to these days in the photography world. I am not a photographer. The idea of photography completely overwhelms me.

Number one, there are unlimited amounts of things that deserve to be documented and photographed. This fact alone makes me craaazy. I know that if I got into photography that I would go absolutely positively insane. I feel anxious just imagining all the things I might miss if I didn't have my camera handy...if I was a photographer. Not to mention how I would obsess over how to categorize my photos in a way that would make them accessible at any given time.

Another thing that was rolling around in my brain after I had stopped browsing flickr was the magic behind photographs. I look at some photographs and feel something. I can look at them and daydream about what is past the edges of the paper, or beyond a building, or who lives in the setting. Some photographs are so real, that I forget that a photographer was present at all at the time the photo was taken.

I read what some photographers say about themselves on their flickr pages. One person who had beautiful photographs refused to communicate with anyone who was not a photographer themselves. They clearly stated that if we marked one of their photos as a favorite and did not have any photos for them to look at, that we would be blocked from viewing any of their photos. Snobbery, I suppose...but unfortunate just the same.

I appreciate the fact that there are humans out there who are able to capture moments and help others see the world through an artists eyes. When you make art, you see the world differently. Its amazing. When you stop making art, the way you see the world goes back to the way normal people see it. I think that photographers get behind their cameras and freeze moments in time when they are seeing the world in that magic way. If they are good at what they do, the photograph will translate that view to whoever looks a it. Its a very important thing. It is also very real. For example. The photo I included in his blog completley make me teary eyed. I can't explain why. I'm sure if my husband wasn't running up and down our studio stairs for exercise right now, I would be able to better put into words how awesome it really is.

The passion is real.

Zoma