Many times I’ll find myself looking at the interior of a backpack, or a scene outside my car window and I’ll think, “I want that. I want it forever”. In order to keep it forever, I must photograph it. I find comfort in the idea of being able to literally take moments, and keep them in my pocket. I love the fact that I can attach memories, hopes, and dreams to a moment captured in a photograph. I can’t help but feel a little romantic about the idea of collecting memories. Photography is an art that allows for such things to happen, and therefore, I have so much respect and love for it.

I believe that a photograph has many capabilities. For example, it can sometimes work as a symbol. I’ll see a scene in the park, on a bench, where a man tries to convince a woman of his love and she can’t seem to understand him. The true nature of love, it’s inconsistencies, its uncertainties, it’s strangeness of proportion, I can make you see all that with one photo. I can make you think, “Yes, I know how this feels!” You’ll see the lines on the woman’s forehead and realize how hard she is trying, and think of how hard you’ve been trying. You’ll notice the sincerity in the man’s gestures and remember how sincere your movements were when you decided to give your lover their first kiss, or make love to them for the first time. You will feel things, and the world will seem much smaller to you. In other words, I can use a photograph to connect you with the rest of the universe!

I can create beauty. I’ll see you smiling to yourself about that one time you missed a step and looked around anxiously to make sure no one was watching… I’ll photograph that smile and when you see it, you’ll think to yourself, “Wow, I’m so beautiful even when I’m not trying to be.” How magnificent is that? A photograph can do that for you- convince you of things like your own genuine beauty.

I can do away with the difficulty of describing my emotions, and instead, tell you how I feel through a photo. I’ll take a photo of a dim light in a dark room and show you that I’ve got ideas in hiding; ideas that won’t form themselves the way I want. I can photograph clutters of nothing and show you how overwhelmed I’ve been these past few weeks. I can take a photo of my teeth and show you my imperfections, but let you know that I am slowly starting to be more accepting of those flaws.
As a photographer, I can create beauty, evoke emotion, and reveal secrets. Believe me when I say that photography doesn’t consist of merely hitting a button on a camera. It is genuine art, and its effects can be truly profound. I have the ability to show you things you’ve seen -but might have overlooked a million times, and I can convince you of the importance of those things. Being aware of the power of photography is enough for me to say I am, in some ways, an artist, and essentially, a creator. It allows me to put faith in the power of art, and convince others of its eminent influence. In the words of Oscar Wilde, “Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”