Of late, I've found myself repeatedly explaining why I do photography, what my goals are, and what motivates me to continue. Each explanation forces me to reflect a little bit more, and to explain things a little bit differently — every time I tell someone about my photography, I learn a little bit more about myself. I feel like this image is a great illustration, and so I'll explain once more.
First and foremost, my photography is about capturing moments that someone will cherish. Moments that will evoke an emotion, and that will tell the viewer a little vignette about the people in the photograph. If you can look at a photograph of mine and feel like you're meeting the subject(s), rather than just looking at them, then I'm moving in the right direction. If you know what or whom they care about, then I count that as a success.
Second, for me, photography is about love. It's about noticing moments and stories that I love, that I care about, and that interest me. I try to capture those moments, because I also like to share the things that I love, and I like to retell the stories that I witness.
Third, I revel in the things around me. My perspective is that it's wonderful to find inspiration in the world. And it's even better to find that inspiration in a context that you can revisit frequently. I believe that learning to appreciate the quirks and the beauty in the things I see every day is going to change my life more than learning to appreciate the things that are far away.
Finally, I prefer to document stories that are actual rather than hypothetical. This is why I approach photography as would a photojournalist — if I publish an image, that image is as you would have seen it, standing next to me, focusing on the things I focused on, paying attention to the same things I noticed about that moment. I believe that if you can trust someone to show you things that are unexpected, that you are more likely to accept that the world may not be as you had imagined. If that trust is missing, then it becomes a lot easier to doubt the medium, and a lot more difficult to doubt yourself.
To be clear, I strive to be worthy of your trust.
