Photography

I have about 20GB of photographs in my computer, and that number has only been growing ever since I started getting into photography. I've always enjoyed looking at photographs, especially pictures that involve people. People have always intrigued me, their body language, their capability of conveying and invoking emotions, the ability to state a presence, their complete complexity and mystery, the ability to control yet the complete loss of control. Despite the fact that pictures only capture and freeze a single moment, and the person's voice and movements are completely erased, its amazing how the person's personality, thoughts, emotions, still come through subtly in the pictures. It just seems that with every different picture and with every different person, there is a totally different feel to it. Pictures really take human communication to a totally different level. There is no need for words or even a continuum of movements and body language. Just one single moment is able to convey years of story. Amazing photographers are able to accomplish this. I hope to do so someday.

On the opposite spectrum of portraits, there are some pictures where the human aspect is completely taken out of the person, and the person becomes nothing but an object, a prop, emotionless, senseless, without soul. It becomes a shape, a shadow, a tone, a texture, a color. It's like taking meaning out of something. I find that absolutely fascinating.

I've always had an interest in the visual arts. I took drawing classes when I was little, perhaps the only class forced upon my parents that I absolutely loved and pursued in. I continued in the fine arts throughout middle, high school, and even college. I've worked with dry and wet media, pencil, charcoal, conte, acrylic, watercolor, etc, it was great to experiement with different techiques, tools, and styles. For awhile, I really wanted to drift away from the traditional art of drawing and painting, and take it up a notch into the more modern, technical realm of digital art. Somehow the intangibility of a digital photography is appealing to me. This is a form of art where the artist can't really touch, can't smell, can't really feel. It is completely not RAW.

Last summer, I saved up enough money to buy a digital SLR. It's not a high end camera, but whatever, it gives me results that I'm happy with. No way is it any where near the photographs taken by professional photographers with $2000 cameras and equipments, but its okay, I'm not trying to pass off as a professional photographer, plus, I have to start off somewhere right? Maybe one day I'll upgrade my equipments, but for now, what I have can definitely do the job.

Photography is sure one expensive hobbie, but it's absolutely worth it. I haven't found something I'm so passionate about for so long. I am glad to be part of this creative process. It's so fun to just take pictures of friends, it's so interactive! whereas for drawing and painting, you kind of just sit there in your own lonesome corner and get lost in your own thoughts. Not that I don't like drawing and painting, but this is definitely something different.

I really want to grow as a photographer, I want to get more creative with my photographs. I need and search for inspiration, and that is why I watch America's Next Top Model, lol.....