Why Do We Take Pictures?
Why do we take pictures? What is the reason for having a photo lifestyle?
I already have several hundred versions of your basic sunset photo on file, and since I love to hike, a good share of them are framed in trees, much like this one I took yesterday evening. So why, when the clouds start to turn color do I whip out my camera and start to look for the optimum angle? Do I need another sunset photo for some project or job I’m doing? Absolutely not. I have plenty in my files to choose from. Is there someone who needs to see this particular sky? Not really. On the surface it’s just a habit – a photo lifestyle.
Why do we take pictures? Perhaps part of the answer is in the home page introduction to this blog. We want to cheat time. To somehow save the feelings and experiences of this moment to enjoy later. We can’t save the entire experience, but we can preserve part of the visual image we see. I was having a particularly contemplative moment when I took this sunset photo. I was wondering why we think a pink or orange sky is more beautiful or exciting than a blue one. Perhaps, I thought, the sky changes color more often in Heaven, so it makes us feel happy to see the sky change? It was uplifting to think about Heaven in such specific terms, and I think perhaps I wanted to remember that feeling of hope when I got home and continued my photo lifestyle by uploaded my photos for the day.
Then again, perhaps I’m looking for that elusive perfect sunset photo. Maybe, just maybe the sunset photo I take today will be better than all the rest. Perhaps it will win a contest and end up in a magazine or on someone’s wall. I just might be taking sunset photo after sunset photo for the same reason Monet filled hundreds of canvases with water lilies.
I think the main answer to the question, why do we take pictures? lies in our respect for diversity. God has made every flower just a little bit different. No two snowflakes are alike, and each sunset is a new version of God’s love bidding us a peaceful day’s end. We show our respect for the individuality of each representation of beauty that we see by wanting to record and catalog it for ourselves and others to enjoy later.
At any rate, I have one more sunset photo now for whatever reason. It could be simply another involuntary example of my photo lifestyle, but I do hope you enjoy this one.
Tags: photo lifestyle, sunset photo, why do we take pictures
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I think you are right. It is our desire to capture a brief moment in time, for all time.
I really liked today's blog. I also take one more picture of certain kinds of flowers, sunsets, and some other things. I also wonder – why? You have answered my question and I am grateful. Recently I began to wonder why I ever needed another picture and started leaving my camera on top of the piano. Today, your blog gave me the reason to carry it again and take one more cloud picture and one more of the other things that I think are God's special gift to me. Thanks