Now I turn to photography.
Why do you take photographs?
This is another area where the first response that usually comes to mind is ‘because I have to’, or ‘it’s just something I do’. Since those are usually not very helpful answers, my next impulse is to detail my history with photography (which I will cover in another post)—which doesn’t help either, because the point eventually gets lost in the process.
In attempting to do that, however, I think I have figured out a core reason that makes sense to me. I am trying to capture something elusive—answers, perhaps—something that will make everything suddenly make sense when I see it. Whether the photograph records a particular emotional state, an alternate view of something we see every day, or a fleeting circumstance, or simply documents something in the world around me, I think it is that search for understanding that drives me. Since I haven’t found it yet, I just keep on going…
(5 November 2014)