Why take a picture? (or create a picture)

I have enjoyed this forum as it poses many of the things I question to

my self.

The basic question is as stated. Why take a picture at all?

For me (novice, not commercial), it revolves around the desire to stop

time and hold a moment, mostly for me.

I am sure the reasons are varied and reflect lots of views.

I am frustrated as when I move through my day I want to capture lots

of things but can't as those images don't transfer well from my brain

to photos.

From tintype to digital isn't it better to cherish all the forms as

each has given us the moment.

I am waiting for the true brain to photo connection where all I need

to do is freeze time, frame and store for transfer out of my brain.

Maybe Canon or Nikon are working on that.

Long ago, people saw animals on the plains, and they painted them on the

walls of their homes -- caves. Today, in communities across the planet,

people scrawl graffitti on everything from dumpsters to railroad box cars. Ask

yourself "why?" all day long. You're not going to get an answer. But chances

are, that in 1,000, 3,000, and 5,000 years, people are still going to be making

hand-made representations of the things they see in the world.

 

Some advice: I think that if you spent more time taking pictures, and less

posing dead-end questions like this one, you would feel less frustrated and

alleviate your failure to capture all of the wonderful things you see.

I don't think we need to slam someone for asking a philosophical question... Most philosophical questions are dead-ends at some point - that's why they're philosophical! By the same argument, you should be out taking more pictures instead of reading an Internet forum :) Now, back to the question.

 

For me, I've found that as I get closer to Nature, my experience becomes more emotional. The act of capturing photographs helps me to focus on my subject and become closer to it. Similarly, the review of those photographs brings me back to the moment - sometimes even refreshing the sounds or smells. I may also discover something in the image which I missed when capturing it. Those rewards are why I take a picture.

 

I would imagine that good photographers in any genre use their technique to enhace their "connectedness" to the environments they are most affected by...

 

</.02>

I take a picture to create a change in the mind or maybe even in the life of the viewer. Photography is the perfect medium for isolating an individual instance of an Ideal from both time and matter. A photograph is a minute slice of time, an instant, and it is not the object photographed. It is an Ideal reduced to its form, a concept that applies to all individuals that make up that Ideal. By detailing one individual in a particular way I hope to allow the viewer to see the species. A flower is a flower in many ways. It is a seed, a shoot, a bud, it is the flower for but an instant, and is then again a seed. It is an Ideal undergoing a progression in time, repeating endlessly and a photograph is an attempt to capture in one instant the essence of that Ideal.

Photographers take pictures because deep down they're all just a bunch of voyeuristic

weirdos.

why, why not

Document MY world and the lives of those around me. I am interested, and hopefully so will my children, grandchildren, etc....

 

Taking photographs makes me look at the world in a different way, and helps me to "see" better.

 

When doing nature shots taking pictures becomes introspective and forces me to slow down from my usual frantic pace of life.

 

Taking pictures is my creative outlet, and I believe certain people have the need to to try and be creative. There are a lot of times the pictures turn out not quite like I envisioned, but when I get one right............

Yes, it is a question that may seem dead ended. I kind of thought it a bit weak when I posed it.

As I have viewed many of the offerings of PhotoNet and see how it has made me better at seeing the world, this question came to mind. Philosophy, yes that is the point of the forum. I must say that I now take more shots and learn more from all the fine folks that gather here.

I guess that I needed to ask of myself that question, and the answer for me (an anti social hermit)is this art causes me (me) to be in greater wonder of the beauty of not only nature, but of the nature of who we are.

I'll second Grant's reply of "Why?" "Why not?"

 

I think there's more to your thought process then the simplicity of the question.

 

To me, asking a question like; "Why take a picture?(or create a picture)" is akin to asking the question, "Why get out of bed in the morning?"

 

To discuss a question of this nature rationally, a bit more insight as to the motivation of the question would be in order.

 

(The following is a rhetorical question, so to all the "Dill Weeds" out there, please and most kindly, leave the following question alone as it's an example question.)

 

As an example:

 

Myself, considering the nuttyness of some of what I see projected as photographic art, I ask the question "Why make art?" But the motivation of my question has more to do more with the insanity of what I'm seeing as opposed to the question of the "Why" of capturing that what is being displayed.

 

So in order to rationally discuss the question of "Why make art?", from my perspective, one has to understand the motivation of the question; "What is it, in contemporary art, that I find so nutty?"

 

So I'll ask; "What motivates you to ask such an overly simplistic question of "Why take a picture?(or create a picture). Or to ask in a more probing way; "What stop sign have you run into that would cause you to ask such a question?"

<i>I guess that I needed to ask of myself that question, and the answer for me (an anti social hermit)is this art causes me (me) to be in greater wonder of the beauty of not only nature, but of the nature of who we are.</i><p>

So then the nature of your question revolves more about the need of personal affirmation then it does around the "Why do it?" aspect of the question.<p>

 

Wishing you the best as you sort out your place in the Universe:) A couple of pics to follow as much of what I've capture of recent months deal in the rhelm of what I think your question is all about. Correct me where I error John as I don't mean to be presumptuous.<p>

 

The first pic is intended to convey the shockingly impersonal nature of life.<p>

 

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/2638566&size=lg">Am I Really Here</a><p>

 

The second pic is to expose the thinking process which one goes through as they try to come to grips with their existence.<p>

 

<a href ="http://www.photo.net/photo/2752540&size=lg">Who R You</a><p>

 

The final image, is intended to reaffirm one's existence and tell them that it's okay, as it doesn't matter why, you're here, you're aware of your existence and that's all that matters.<p>

 

<a href ="http://www.photo.net/photo/2730847&size=lg">Reaffirmation of Life</a><p>

 

Hope my above lends insight to your quest.<p>

Have Camera. Must shoot!

Thank you Thomas. This question was done kind of smart alec like and I must beg forgiveness to all. I wanted to provoke a bit and got my answer. Those folks that use this medium have great passion for it show that to not create is a serious issue.

I too believe in that creating a moment to give vision, jerk someone out of the norm, push their emotions, or make them go wow, is a great profession, hobby, or whatever you do it for.

I am guilty of being stupid, but with kind of a motive.

Sometimes we may forget how much of this is a gift.

I, like many others, take pictures in order to show them to someone else. For some folks, it's enough to just take them, and not show anyone. But that seems like navel gazing to me.

 

And why would I want to show pictures to someone else? Simply in order to reveal myself. I don't photograph a storefront in order to show someone what the storefront looked like. Rather, I photograph the storefront in order to show others how I see things, and what kind of things I react to visually.

 

Most people don't care how I see things, and I don't expect them to. But by doing this, over time I do come to meet a few others who understand how I see things, or who see things similarly. Then I have a sense of having made a connection. I like that.

With a friend, i was talking about the same aspect, while thinking at having "less possible between you and the subject", I guess this is the way....nice, emotional, personal snapshots..

 

ciao!

Why take a picture?

 

<p><b>BECAUSE IT'S THERE.</b>

Why don't you take a video instead?

As a documentary photographer my reason is simple, to make a record of something. I used to live in an industrial town in the English Midlands. Abotu half a mile from where I lived was a small cluster of barely a dozen houses. This hamlet was known as Sodom. it sat between two brickyards and no matter which way the wind blew it was covered in smoke and ashes, hence Sodom. I have what I believe to be the only two photographs ever taken of Sodom before the quarry workings were extended and the place disappeared. So people today can see where and how people lived in the past.

Because I can.

To share an experience.

To convey a message.

To capture the wonder of the natural world.

To reveal the good, bad, just, unjust, evil, ugly, crual and the beautiful side of humanity.

 

The last time my eyes wet was because of a photograph....It shows a crying little girl of around 3, 4 years old sitting alone next to her parent's corpes out in the street, the photo was taken in a war zone...

 

-Robert

i like to get high and suffer withdrawal

Inner vision: the third eye.

First, this is not a mundane questions as some have stated. To understand why we have taken photography is the way to either mastering it (and enjoying it to the fullest) or to stopping doing it, if we aren't really enjoying it but took it on as an escape in the same way as gambling may be, or fast driving and other such pastimes..

 

I think a number of responses on this thread touched on the surface reasons but did not go further. Yes, we take a picture to record that unique moment that otherwise will pass and disappear. But this reason comes from deeper still.

 

The one response that hits it, at least from one side, is the fact that most of us want to share our pictures and possibly would not enjoy photography if we could not share it - our photography - with others. This is almost it. For most, photography is the the chosen means of expressing or presenting ourselves. The age old advertising of our personality and abilities.

 

Another reason is either striving for perfection or seeking to create - and there are exact opposites in the way that we photograph. Those of us who strive for the most technically flawless pictures are the ones who are driven to achieving the absolute - the most that can be done with a given subject and a given medium. Those of us who seek to create, do exactly that in our pictures - seek for an unorthodox subject or it's representation.

One aspect of this question that hasn't been discussed deals with seeing our World in a different way, in a more intense way. Anyone, I think, that has enough interest to take photography as a hobby or further, is awakening his/her consciousness a little bit more (I know, the last bit sounds a bit corny...).

 

But think of all the people that don't see shapes/patterns, light, colours and even emotions to the degree us fellow photographers experience.

Did I miss something? Did nobody say "to attract the opposite sex?" Isn't everything we do to impress and attract the opposite sex? Making money would be a distant second...

Taking pictures is fun. Why is it fun? Well, I learn a lot from watching children; they seem so good at it: Why do they build castles in the sand at the beach?... and then laugh when the ocean washes them away? Why do they color pictures of their mommies and daddies? Why do they run with their hands in the air in the wind? Why do they take their sister's toys away... and hide them? Why do they play with their food?