I have a crush on photography. I have for a long time. I've admired it from afar for years. I have lots of coffee table photo books - many I've collected from used bookstores over the years. I love looking at photos, stopping life for a moment to really look at them, not just seeing them.
Photography, I'm dying to be with you. We must end up together.
I’ve flirted with the idea of being more intimate with it. I took a photography class in grad school and worked as a summer camp staff photographer. That’s about it. I’m such a tease.
Photography still feels like a crush I’ve had a nice chat with at a party, but was too nervous to ask out. I'd make a move... if only I had a camera.
I think in frames. Throughout the day I'll see something and think, "That's a photo." It kills me not to have a camera. It really pains me. Thankfully a co-worker of mine has a Canon 60D she's going to let me borrow. But I long for the day when I have a camera of my own - one I take with me just about everywhere.
Last summer when I worked as a photographer at camp, I learned how to work a camera pretty well. I shot on manual everyday for three months. I miss it. I want to get to the point where a camera is an extension of my body - a limb I use second nature.
I don't really think I'm all that good at photography. But thankfully natural talent isn't a requirement for picking up a hobby. You improve - you learn - you build up your expertise.
I'm ready to be a creator of images, not just a connoisseur of them. The homepage of my website is my photography, even though it's not that good. I also had business cards made with an emphasis on my pictures. Fake it until you make it, right?
I especially love street photography and documentary photography. I often look online at documentary photo projects or watched YouTube videos of photographers giving advice and talking about their work. Doing so stirs something up inside me. It makes me think, "I want to do that. I have to do that." I have a passion for storytelling - most of you know that - but recently the desire to tell stories through photography has been building up inside me. I've got to try it.
I wait for the day when I can more easily act on the love I have for photography. When a camera is a daily accessory. Until then, I'll continue to love it from afar.
