I Believe in Photography.

I believe in the power of photography. A single moment, less than a second in one's life, captured on paper, shown in ink that will last an eternity if not destroyed. Photos can help bring back the memories of what was lost. They can arouse feelings using colours, placement and perspective. They can express the mood of the photographer, a friend, a romantic dinner between a couple very much in love, or the broken, marginalized homeless man with his back against the wall. They may very well help us to better our understanding of our creator through the creating and capturing processes, the way we then view our creation, and the mood, memories, or feelings that my arise within us give us a sense of pride in what we have accomplished.

Generally, photography is used to capture a moment that you'd like to remember. My parent's never grew up wealthy. As a result, there were never many photographs of them. Although, the occasional pictures that were taken when they were young, always tell a story. My father has a small shoe box of old pictures that remind him of specific stories, events and trips from his youth. Pictures of his first car, first job, second job, friends, holidays, and family events. However, my mother wasn't as fortunate to keep or take many photos from when she was a child. But, once she reached college, her first big expense was a Polaroid camera which captured many pictures of my parent's lives as college students. Occasionally, these pictures are brought out and looked at. Many stories are shared around our small coffee table on cold, rainy days. Stories of pranks, vivid descriptions of friends, neighbors, siblings and teachers, stories that bring us to tears and stories that we can't help but laugh hysterically at. Which brings me to my next point.

Emotion. Feelings can be aroused in a viewer by setting the light, the pose, shutter speed, composition of colour and placement of objects. The light adds drama to the picture. More contrast or definition of objects and materials through light have a stronger, more dramatic effect on the viewer. The pose of a person shows the viewer their true emotion through body language, even if their face may not show much emotion. Shutter speed is the exposure time, when the camera's shutter is open. This can show the busyness of a city, or it can specifically focus on one subject being very still in the midst of an ever moving environment. To me, colours are very powerful and tell a story of their own. Orange represents excitement, red, the colour of love and rage, yellow, of happiness, blue, seriousness but can still be serene and nostalgic, purple, the colour of royalty and peace, and so forth. The placement of objects can really express what a person loves and cares for, or doesn't care for.

Photographs often express how the photographer sees things. His or her mood and opinion towards different subjects. As a observer, we are forced to see the photographer's view points and from what angle he is approaching a subject. Whether his photos express political outrage or the beauty of nature. The photographer always tries to make his art interesting to capture the viewers attention. He uses the drama and action of the picture to attract the eyes and the scene to make a statement.

After all these aspects of composing a simple photo that takes less than a second, we realize how complicated and diverse our creator's world really is. As a photographer, I'm only capturing a short moment, in one day, in one spot, of one situation. The creator not only shot it, he created it. So, when we're proud of what we've accomplished, imagine how he felt after it all.