Developing as a photographer can be an overwhelming pursuit. It’s complicated, expensive and time consuming. We do it because we love it. I don’t believe you will ever speak to an active photographer, professional or amateur, who doesn’t feel that photography has huge importance. I’m no different, and here are my top 5 ways in which photographs enrich our lives:
1. Back to the happy place
S*!t happens. The boiler blows up, or you have a particularly dull piece of admin to do, or you find yet another ‘we missed you while you were out for 3 minutes’ card from a courier. But when those things happen, I just have to look up at my picture of Kata Tjuta, or the one of Jenny walking down the aisle, and I get a small but noticeable lift. Makes the nasty thing seem slightly less important.
2. Salad days
Apparently, on some deep level, we always feel we are as old as we were at our happiest. Maybe that was your Madchester period, with your flared jeans and curtains. (Personally, I don’t think I’ve been as happy or hopeful about life as I am right now, but that’s a bad example. The power dressing shoulder pad years, becoming a mum or captaining the first XI would probably be better, but I’ve done none of those). That tin of old photos can take you right back to when you felt your best, which can be heady stuff.
3. See the unseen
Other people’s photos let you look through their eyes. You gain the ability to see the world as they saw it in that moment – whether it’s a newborn baby you’ve not met, a fantastic beach you never even knew existed, or a beautiful moment that you’d missed at your own wedding. It’s such an effective, immersive way of sharing our experiences with others.
4. You’ll be a man, my son
Kids, eh? Actually, if you don’t have any kids of your own, this could well apply to your nieces, friends’ kids, siblings or pets (or your particularly hairy niece with the floppy ears). When I look back at my photos of Isaac, now a cheeky, grubby, toddling chimp, it’s amazing to see the transformations that have happened over his 14 months. You miss this stuff at the time, but a series of photographs gives you such a unique perspective.
5. We’ll meet again
People do go AWOL. They pass away. Sometimes cosmetic surgery makes them unrecognisable. But if you have photographs of them, you can vividly remember the times you shared together. Before that nose job they think no-one noticed.
You may not recognise all of these. But I’d be willing to bet that at least a few cause a smile of recognition to the vast majority of people, because photographs are important to us on a deep level. Quality photography is a seriously powerful way of documenting your life. In some form, I think everyone should make it a priority – but then, I’m biased…
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