I advocate at-least-one-photo-a-day, partly because it teaches us to notice our surroundings more, partly for the huge boost to memory, partly because looking back on the record of normal day to day life is its own kind of beautiful.
Your own aesthetic tastes are a kind of self discovery, and one of the best ways to exercise this self discovery is through photography. It compels you to ponder what is meaningful and beautiful in your surroundings. Once you know this, you can make them more beautiful.
I share photos because I want to make people feel wonder and emotions that are difficult to put into words but fell very right to "show." If you see and capture them you can show that they exist as part of the landscape, that emotions surround us, they are not just internal.
Photos, like paintings, help you see these moods that inhabit the world.
Dorothea Lange, the brilliant depression-era photographer put it succinctly: "A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera."
Dorothea Lange, the brilliant depression-era photographer put it succinctly: "A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera."
The quest for good photos causes you to be on foot more. On foot, you cannot possibly be out of touch. You notice a lot more of the world.
Observation is a necessary skill before truly understanding aesthetics. It's something you should practice(!) until it becomes muscle memory
Observation is a necessary skill before truly understanding aesthetics. It's something you should practice(!) until it becomes muscle memory
For memory daily journal and daily photo might be comparable, but for art, they're very different.
What makes a good sketch is skill, thoughtfulness, embellishment, etc.
What makes a good photo is what is *not* there.
What makes a good sketch is skill, thoughtfulness, embellishment, etc.
What makes a good photo is what is *not* there.
My friend once called photography "the art of stealing and lying", which I understand. You realize that to frame a good photo you must omit things from the scene.
It forces you to realize things that you might not via sketching. Like the degree that cars have invaded our realm.
It forces you to realize things that you might not via sketching. Like the degree that cars have invaded our realm.
