Photography - My point of view

Why give it a meaning?

I have been asked many times, what thoughts run in my mind when I lift my camera to capture an image.  And I am always at a loss to answer this seemingly simple question. I have been advised by many people to think of or to philosophies my reasons for choosing a subject.  Unfortunately for me it does not work that way. Frankly, never ever any deep thoughts or philosophy take over my mind when I see the subject I want to click.  It is just an instinct which makes me choose a subject.  Some inherent beauty I see in it, may be a beauty which only I see.

My vision of Wheat fields

 For me it is something to do with feeling, subject raises in me, which may not be profound at all. It can be just framing I like, composition I like, abstractness of it which I like, face I like, shape I like. At the end they all represent my vision. What I find most difficult is to give reason behind my capture.  What thoughts ran in my mind when I clicked?  I would say none. There is no reason, there is just love of capturing what I see and what I experience. Feeling of oneness I get with my subject obliterates all other thoughts from my mind. It is pure meditation where no thought exists. It is me and my subject to the exclusion of everything else.

Me and My subject - Nothing else exists

So when I am asked what you were thinking, I turn blank, because at the moment of capture I was in conversation with my subject and not thinking.  When I look at my picture later on, I give it a thought, trying to attach a reason and I always fail, because that seed is not there. It is very difficult for me to give my feelings a name, my experience a title. In rare cases, it suddenly springs and then I realise that it is not related to experience of the time of capture, but it is related to something which I may be feeling at that particular moment. 

I do not have a habit to go in search of a meaning of other photographer's photo or try to go deep into photographer's mind. May be a trait I should develop. I feel that each one of us has a different way of "looking" at things. For me it boils down to whether I like the way of his or her, looking at the subject.  And here looking does not have any deep meaning attached to it. For me it is like love at a first sight. I like it at a first glance or I do not.I appreciate the vision of the photographer. 

I do photography to go away from it all, to leave all seriousness of life behind, to attain that blankness of purpose. Can’t something be done for the fun of it, for the enjoyment you get out of it? Why give it a meaning?

Do I see in abstract?

Someone asked me very interesting question. Do you see in abstract or do you create an abstract? Question which made me think about my photography , which can be fairly abstract or sometimes rather strongly so.

Abstract look at the palm leaf

If you look at the palm leaf above , one thing becomes very clear that I do look at my subject in an abstract manner. For me it is not a palm leaf but some object with a strong shadow and lovely textures.That is the first thing I noticed about it. Moment I saw it this way, it stopped being a palm leaf. This confirms the first part of the question that I do look at things in an abstract manner.

While I was shooting this photograph, I realised that by taking a photo at certain angle, I can make it look like steps. And I shot it according to that vision. This confirms the second part of the question that I create an abstract.

I don't think any artist, and I consider myself a photo artist, restricts herself or himself to thinking in one particular way. It is a constantly evolving process which ends with the saving of the edited version of the photo in the hard disk and even beyond.

New year musings

And You? When Will You Begin The Long Journey Into Yourself?
Rumi

January 2017 - Planning for the year begins. Some plans will see the light of the day while some will fall by the way side.  

Year has begun on a positive note. Created a handmade photo-book, a first for me. Right from the conceptualisation to actual making of it , complete process is done by me and that has given me immense satisfaction. Biggest gain has been sense of independence I felt at the end and confidence in my art and judgement has gone up manifolds after that.

It has also opened up for me another avenues . I have started exploring other genre of art like abstract printing. To see something which is created by you, whether good,bad or ugly, gives feeling of satisfaction.