as much as i like cameras

The picture is not my goal

Not really. Though I do take a lot of them and enjoy doing so but when I do it, I’ve got to be fast.

I’ve got to be, if not outright covert, then at least absolutely invisible. And I hope you’ll notice those two things sit right on top of one another

The problem is that a camera changes the room. It makes people act—or not act—a certain way. And that ruins it, because the photograph is just a placeholder. It’s a pointer to the thing beyond it, which is the actual goal.

At a high level, I think photography—and art in general—points toward heaven. The art is just a little something to make us smile and remember that this life, while good, is not where we will truly find home. No matter how deep my roots may run here, the art reminds us me that we can look forward to something beyond.

At a base level, the photograph is an anchor to a point in time. It connects you to an emotion. It recalls not only the things seen, but the things heard, and felt, and the smell of the air in that specific second.

But in society today, we forget that. When a camera comes out, people freeze. They get self-conscious. They stop doing the very thing that made me want to take the picture in the first place! They stop living and start posing with stiff smiles.

And just like that, the camera becomes useless. More or less. 

Next time a “photographer” pulls out a camera and you’re not paying them for a photo session. Ignore them. Keep on doing, or not doing, just as you were because maybe the reason the “photographer” pulled out their camera to begin with is because they saw and felt something ring inside of them about the scene that reminded of them of a place they’ve never been, heaven.

Inevitably though you’re gonna be asked to look here and smile by that family member with the camera who you can’t say “no!” to, or maybe they just won’t let you say no so you will look and say “cheeeeseeeee” and smile for the camera. When you do that — the photo nevertheless is still not the goal. The goal is the same. Just the walls have shifted a little to include “noticing” the camera. 

There’s a lot to say on this subject. Or at least I have a lot to ramble on about but that’s enough for now. 

If nothing has made sense to you keep at least one thing in mind when a camera is involved. It is a question: 

“If the camera was nowhere to be found — would such and such thing we’re doing or person or beautiful landscape still be as powerful or loved or special?” 

When the answer is “yes” the picture is not the goal.