Of Being a Photographer.

Here's the thing about being a photographer; you don't see the world as other people see it.

I was talking with my friend Felicia yesterday, discussing why we like photography and how we see life in photographs. Felicia gave the example of how when her aunt pulled out a pan of muffins from the oven, how she sees a photograph in the steam rising of the fresh muffins, a photograph in the satisfied look on her aunt's face. Yes! That's it. It's not about the muffins is it? It's about the work that went into the muffins, the care in selecting the ingredients, the time in mixing them correctly, the diligent watching to make sure that they cook correctly, the satisfied triumph in accomplishing the goal, the love she has for her family and her desire to provide for them... It's not just about what is IN the photo; it's what the STORY is that makes the photo great. As Ansel Adams says: "A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed."


Homeless Woman, Seattle, 1.15.11

"To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things."
-Ansel Adams


So truly, I am not just a photographer, but a storyteller at heart.

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