On Not “Just” Being A Photographer

CNNgo is a very sharp new travel and lifestyle blog from CNN, along a similar line to the CNNtraveller magazine (which I’ve always enjoyed). A few weeks ago I submitted a proposal for a feature on Hong Kong storefronts, with words and photos and this week it went out here.

Whilst I’m not looking to switch gears and become a journalist, it was a lot of fun to research that piece, do some writing and take some photos out on location around Hong Kong. In fact, it’s just one of a number of things that have made me realise how far my photography has come in the last few months and challenged me about what the future holds there.

Whilst thinking along those lines, David duChemin’s blogpost yesterday on Pixelatedimage really caught my eye. He was challenging those of us who are prone to describing ourselves as “…just an amateur photographer.” Commercialising our craft is only one of a number of decisions and ultimately not the most important one.

What really matters is whether we have embraced a desire to grow technically as photographers and more importantly, to grow as people who look at the world in a clear, open and honest way.

“We don’t take photographs with our cameras, we take them with our hearts and our minds. They are a reflection of ourselves, what we are, and what we think.” ~ Arnold Newman.

I love the technical side of photography, buying equipment and learning to use it, getting inside the software, that sort of thing. But, more importantly, I’m just starting to realise that the photos we take reflect the way we see the world. Finding your photographic style is not unlike finding your “voice” as a singer, or your “tone” as a guitarist or instrumentalist.