Guest Post: Why Do You Photograph?*

By Kenneth Tanaka

January is, of course, the traditional time of the year for introspection and making resolutions for various self-improvement instigations and abatements. January is also the typical time for photography enthusiasts to make any number of resolutions concerning equipment, projects, and development. You may recall that last year at this time I wrote an essay titled "Ah, January!"** offering thoughts and suggestions towards such ends.

This year I want to offer a slightly different suggestion. Have you ever taken one giant step back to just ask yourself why you photograph at all?

Vocational photographers are, of course, exempted from such interrogation. And certainly one's motives for snapping family, friends, and special life events (travel, graduation, release from prison, etc.) are universally self-evident.

But why do you photograph beyond those categories? What are you getting from it? What do you strive to achieve with your camera? What role does enjoyment of new equipment really play in your photographic activities? What do you actually do with all your photos? Who do you consider the audience for your photographs to be? Is that the audience you want? Do you model yourself against particular photographers and/or types of photography?

Our answers to such questions can be more than idle musings. They can, indeed they should, help crystallize some of our photographic intentions for the coming year. But even if you can't mine any answer more profound than "'Cuz it's fun to do!" (which is perfectly legitimate), I think it's still worth earnestly visiting the questions at least once each year. One year you just might be inspired to answer differently.

Or you might even decide that photography is no longer something you want to directly pursue. For example, I know more than a few people who were once avid and in some cases rather renowned photographers, but at some point decided that appreciating, collecting, and/or teaching photography offered them more personal fulfillment than actually practicing it.

I also know several folks who used the advent of digital photography to reboot their practice by retracting and simplifying their gear spheres. They divested themselves of all their film-era equipment and now use only pocketable carry-anywhere cameras, mostly of the fixed-lens design. To a person they each remark that this change has had a powerfully clarifying effect on their work and brought them much more enjoyment.

Whyever, whatever, and however you photograph this year here's wishing my fellow TOP readers a healthy, peaceful and interesting 2013!

Ken

* This title is not to be confused with Robert Adams's excellent collection of essays published in 2005 by Aperture under the title Why People Photograph. Highly recommended reading, but not directly related.

** You may recall the dreamy little twilight winter scene, below, that I included with that piece:

This is how that same location appears today, exactly one year later:

Such documentary presentations are something that photography is uniquely qualified to produce, and would certainly qualify as an answer to the title question!

Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ranjit Grover: "I guess it is bit like climbing the mountains. Why should any one climb a mountain? It is a compulsive behavior. So is photography. Many photographers do not even care to show their work to others. The mere act of getting the picture is what gives them the satisfaction. Documentation is only part of the story. For whom is the documentation done? For the present generation or the coming generations? Would they care? Who is interested in the photo of my aged neighbor? Obviously there would be no direct, clear cut, unambiguous answer for that age old question 'Why do we shoot pictures?' It is a profoundly philosophical question that will not get an answer for a very, very long time."

Animesh Ray: "Why do I photograph? I wanted to be a painter very early in life but soon found out that I lack both the ability and the talent. Instead, I found that I was intuitive with the camera. Ever since it has been the easier way of giving vent to a creative urge. Now it appears that I might indeed leave one or two prints on the wall that my descendants could mull over after I am gone. That is the driver."

Roger Overall: "You ask great questions, Ken, but I'm so troubled by your two photographs at the end of the post, I can't concentrate hard enough to answer them. My mind is hungry for a third photograph next year of the site. I want a happy ending to the story you're telling with the two photographs so far. I need a conclusion in part three that eases my mind and shows that all is well with the park. I hope to see that it is improved, rather than destroyed. Will you show us the ending in a third picture?"

icexe: "Years ago I used to care so much about the art, about making that perfectly exposed, perfectly composed, mind-blowing image. But with the advent of digital photography and the Internet, it seems no matter how great an image I made, hundreds of other people  out there already did it, and did it far better than I did.

"I often felt like I was spending thousands of dollars on equipment just to make 'me too' derivative photos that really no one but a few facebook friends might spend more a few seconds looking at. I entered a few photo contests, only to feel even less capable when my 'best' attempts wouldn't even make it past the middle of the pack at best.
Finally, I said to myself, 'Really, who was I trying to impress anyway?'

"So recently my photos have become far more personal; I take photos for me, to capture moments that mean something to me. I've mostly dumped the big, heavy, expensive gear for a simpler MFT setup with a fixed lens.

"I don't care as much now about 'perfection,' I care much more about emotion. I know the stories of all the images I frame on my wall, they may seem uninteresting to most people, but to me they are a reminder of snippets from my life.  Ultimately, these are the photos worth taking."

Mark: "Well, it's a given I'm never a featured comment, but that doesn't stop me from offering my two cents. Why do I photograph? All I need do is look at the walls in my home all adorned with my photos over the years, from when my kids were babies to now, when the oldest is 26 and the youngest 21. The memories, the smiles, the teardrops, are all the proof positive I need that I took up the right hobby. I'll practice it until my last breath."

Mike replies: Best comment so far.  :-)

bertram eiche: "I take photos because it satisfies me. I like to enhance my memories with beauty. I'm far beyond the 10,000 hours rule. Photography became just a part of me. I'm never without a camera. Just love it."

Steve Caddy: "The answer for me came before I started actively asking the question. I'd already half decided to give the hobby away in favor of devoting time to focus on other things; family, work, cycling...that kind of thing. My wife was pregnant and I was going to have less time to devote to my already too numerous (and too consuming) interests.

"My wife  doesn't care much for 'photography.' She tends to bemoan anything larger than pocketable or more expensive than a couple of hundred dollars and sees pictures as 'photo of girl', 'photo of lamp-post' regardless of light, composition, moment or metaphor. When our son was unexpectedly born at 23 weeks gestation she said to me: 'Go home and get a camera. I want you to take pictures.'

"I went home and got a Mamiya 645, an M6, and an old DSLR. We took a lot of pictures of each other, our lifeless boy, the room, the passing light as the outside world kept going; the thick weight of emptiness that descends over you at such times.

"In the weeks after we came home from the hospital, going through the images, there were three 6x4.5 black and whites of my wife holding our tiny, tiny son and, seeing them, I started to understand what we had been through.

"We wouldn't have had that if I didn't make those pictures, and the ones from the other cameras weren't the same. Somehow in the sorrow, the big, slow, deliberate, heavy one, with the controls that are workable through tear-filled eyes and mechanical noises as real and physical as ourselves was the one that made images that would teach me something about myself, my wife, the strength of our marriage and the meaning of our children.

"When I saw those photos, that's when I knew not to stop making pictures. Even if nobody but we see them, they help us know the world and ourselves."

Comments

[Richard Tugwell]

I don't find this a difficult one - I think if you try and analyse why you do it, then it means you don't already know, or you doubt it's value. In both cases you might as well stop

[David]

I was driving that bulldozer. Just a little prank I decided to pull on Mayor Daley early one Sunday morning. Would you mind sending me a wallet size of that, Ken?

[Tom Robbins]

These are thought provoking questions, Ken.

Not long ago I recall reading, somewhere, that some photographers do what they do in order to make sense of the world. This neatly sums up the situation in my case, and it may also play a role for folks shooting subjects beyond the usual categories.

[Dennis]

A nice essay, Ken. A couple points strike home for me. I've been struggling, for lack of a better word, over the last ten years, to accept the fact that I no longer have time to practice photography seriously - at least not the type of photography I'd like to practice. I have a full time job with an hour long commute each way and a busy family life. Before my daughter was born, I enjoyed nature photography; since then, I've become more of a people photographer, and had a little fun toying with beginners street photography and travel scenes. And I strive to get better and better at shooting my daughters sporting events, dance recitals, school plays and concerts and so on. (For that reason, my 70-200/2.8 is one of my most used lenses and the main reason I won't be abandoning my DSLR in the foreseeable future).
I know that fully embracing this philosophy will be a good thing. I can simplify my gear; buy that Sony RX100 that will allow me to leave the DSLR at home without investing in a second ILC system. And I can stop fretting over the photography I wish I were doing, but know I don't have the time to do well at this point in my life.
I have also been slowly building up a small photo book library and appreciating the photography of others.
So while I'm not one for resolutions, maybe your post will be the kick in the pants I need in order to accept my new photographic reality, and to sell off all that extraneous gear.

[Kenneth Wajda]

I shoot street photographs to capture fleeting moments of life. It's kind of like a treasure hunt. When you have your camera up and ready to fire, it's amazing how many moments cross your path.

http://kennethwajda.com/coloradofaces/gallery/content/L1072661_large.html is an example. Walking through a rainy NYC in December. Poor kid's missing everything.

Or life's oddities. http://kennethwajda.com/coloradofaces/gallery/content/L1068492-Edit_large.html

Fun stuff. It's an exploration of my world. It's my favorite way to explore a new destination.

[Mel]

They bulldozed a park? For what - a parking lot?

I photography for reasons that have evolved over the years: first, to document; later, to improve skill; recently, to portray; my goal, to illuminate.

[Ken White]

Growing up as a military brat/camp follower I had richly diverse visual experiences as a sub-adult. Unfortunately not a single person in my immediate family used a camera to record our experiences.

I have a strongly visual memory. The vivid detail I can recall with the help of photographs as an aid is a powerful incentive to record my world. My childhood experiences are essentially locked away and undocumented. The world has changed so much since I was a child and those memories are precious.

This also translates into a strong incentive to document other vanishing worlds. Particularly the history and people of the Western US. For instance I used to know someone who was involved in New Mexico territorial politics. All I have are memories of her now - no images or story to pass along. My personal journey is a powerful influence on my choice of subjects.

[PWL]

Why do I photograph? Because it is there....

[CK Dexter Haven]

WHY:
• God Proxy. To make the world look the way I feel it should.
• Imitation/Inspiration. Trying to replicate the quality and types of imagery created by photographers i admire.
• It's rarely about 'preserving memories.' It usually has to have a transformative effect — i want to make something look grand/iconic/beautiful....

[Eric]

The question is a good one, for sure. But are we now in for a long list of OP-ers all eager to tell us 'why I photograph'? I pray not. I propose two linked supplementary questions one cannot ask oneself often enough: "Why did I take THIS photograph? What on earth was I thinking about?"

[Peter Komar]

I am struggling with this exact question and have been for some time now. I certainly have the time and much more equipment than I care to list but even so I often ask what do I accomplish with my photographs? I recently exhibited many of my B&W prints at a small gallery with an opening night celebration and also sold a few prints during the month long showing. But to be honest with myself most of my work gets printed and then they go to storage in my archival black box, (presentaion cases) and this is where I struggle, what is the benefit besides friends, relatives and yes most people that see my work seem to like it, but that is where it ends. So I have taken a hiatis from shooting any "fine art" images and random snaps never really motivated me, perhaps the digital era has some effect on my desire to shoot and print? Perhaps the ease of digital has produced a glut of some very fine work by the masses of photographers, I also fall into the trap of new cameras and the vast improvements in sensors and reduced camera size that equipment is more important than the process of photographing. I also think that today even more so than in the past most photography, (prints) are a tuff sell. The question still remains for me.....WHY do I photograph. Perhaps attempting fly fishing or a new artistic challenge is what I need?

[John Camp]

Kirk Tuck has a similar meditation on his blog, that's worth reading..."Where are we going with this photography thing?"

And I gotta say, if you're really into introspection...some of the answers are brutal.

[Ivan Muller]

I have been a professional and keen amateur photographer since the early eighties. Two years ago for almost a year I used only one camera with a fixed lens for my personal photography...very liberating and a very good way to rejuvenate my vision. The fact that I didn't have to focus ( I used zone focus a lot) and used mostly automatic exposure contributed to this journey of renewal. It was the most liberating year in my photography life and left me with a much clearer vision. I can recommend it to anyone that is looking for some direction in their photography life...or just to recharge those photo batteries....

[David W. Scott]

There are three moments of recurring pleasure that inspire me to photograph.

In the field, the artistic and technical puzzle that arises when I see a subject and I am prompted to answer the question "how do I photograph THAT?"

In post-processing when I first look at my images or my film, and find one or two nuggets that are better / different than I could possibly have hoped for.

And finally, sharing those few worthy images with friends and strangers, and finding what they love (or don't.) It's often different than my own opinion, which is fascinating.

The best of those images end up on a wall somewhere - and in an online gallery. When the response has been really good, those friends and family members will find themselves in receipt of a gift (print, mug, etc.)

[Dennis]

Fairly uninteresting, but I photograph as a way to share what I think is beautiful in the world. Since nobody shares my particular obsessions and geography, it ends up being unique if not particularly original. I just put up my Top 9 from the last year on my Flickr (linked to my name).

Of course, this post made me consider selling the Olympus E-M5 (20/1.7, 45/1.8, 60/2.8, 9-18/4-5.6) for the lovely RX100, but even if it's more convenient, I ended up getting each of those lenses because they scratch a particular itch. At least I'm getting better at quelling such urges - used to be the RX100 would have been on order shortly after lunch. =P

[John Holland]

We live in a beautiful world, and I am greedy; I want to re-experience the beauty I witness over and over. The subject is irrelevant - it's whatever catches my eye.

The equipment provides variety and prevents visual fatigue: what does this arresting-to-me item look like with this lens? This film? This sensor? Fill flash? What happens when I stretch time out? (Now I need a tripod and neutral-density filters.) And so forth.

There seems to be no larger goal than to satisfy an insatiable visual curiosity and appetite. But I suppose "documentary" is a good enough theme, since I also like to revisit (and reprint) photos I took in decades past that happen, unintentionally, to capture something or someone that is no more. Someone I met at the Ctein Toronto gathering described my pictures as "mementos". That term seems to capture the idea well - a pithy point of entry into a larger memory.

It is also, however, more than a bit solipsistic; a stranger off the street wouldn't "get" a lot of my photos because their frame of reference is a bit too personal. So my goal for 2013 is to mix with other photographers more, and get outside my box, even for a short while. And spend more time and money on the presentation side of photography and less on hardware.

[Benjamin Marks]

Not trying to be cute: because I must.

[Gordon Lewis]

Irritated subject to impressionable young man: "Why don't you take a picture? It will last longer."

Impressionable young man: "Thanks. That's a good idea."

Reality is an illusion. The world as we know it is ephemeral. Photographs are my way to be engaged in the Now; to capture the illusion and the moment so that others might look at them and know what it's like to See Things the Way I See Them (and as they may never exist again.)

[PWP]

Excellent thoughtful piece, Kenneth. As I get older I reflect on this subject more often. As for me, I photograph for my walls. That is, I make prints, mat and frame them and hang them on my walls. When I get tired of a print or have a new image I want to see, I swap the print out of the frame and hang something new. I have a short list of subjects that I photograph most often and strive to make images containing a strong graphical element. Printed images that reveal something new every time you look at them are just captivating.

Apart from the images themselves, the act of photographing has been my way of relating to the world for 50 years now. Perhaps it gives me some perceived measure of control over the uncontrollable, a sense of peace in a world of turmoil. Whatever it is, I don't think I could live without making images, even the ones that don't end up on my walls. Maybe some day, but not just yet.

[Jamie Pillers]

Ken, thanks for the post. Interesting set of questions; they nicely cover most, if not all, of my concerns. It would be cool if readers' responses to those questions could be 1) encouraged, 2) collated, and 3) presented here sometime in the near future. Might make for some interesting follow-on posts?

[sneye]

Why do we sing while taking a shower? Why do we scribble on a piece of paper during a boring staff meeting? Why do we feel compelled to touch a key or two every time we walk past a piano? Why do we photograph?

I think that the reason is quite straightforward: Homo sapiens is a creative species. Creating something, even insignificant, even inadvertently provides the right lobe of our brains a much needed stimulation. It gives us a sense of balance. Sanity, if you like.

Fundamentally, we photograph for ourselves. It's merely a reflex, almost like breathing or blinking. But a photograph is more than just a representation of reality made of colour and tone; it's historically meaningful. It quickly becomes part of our very memory. So unlike shower arias we take the trouble to collect our photographs (hopefully only a few hundreds a year) and show them to the people we love. And some of those precious pieces of history may become memories for our beloved too. In fact this is the peak of my photographic aspirations.

[Manuel]

I often think about it. I think I know the answer. It's the way I can express myself aesthetically.

[John Myers]

This is not an original thought but it is appropriate: I make photographs because I like to see how things look in a photograph.

[k4kafka]

I began my "artistic career" as a painter, but eventually picked-up a camera. When I found out I could actually make a living shooting photographs, instead of paintings...I never looked back.

[Francis Harrison]

I came to photography through a lifelong obsession with the cinema. This led me to shoot in the streets (of Tokyo, SE Asia, etc.) looking for freeze frames from ongoing movies starring "everyday heroes". Put another way: I guess I'm a frustrated movie director. Ironically even with the video capabilities in today's cams, I am not seriously tempted to shoot moving pictures...

[gary bliss]

Hmmm. Why? Firstly, i do not do this to obsession. By the shutter counter, i shoot about 3k/yr, or 250/mnth. I shoot the things that are important in my life and heart. In my case that would be Virginia's countryside, historical sites, and various other interests (well, okay, motorcycle racing). Then there is my family . . . and my mistress . . . ahem.

I keep the prints in albums and cover the walls of my windowless Pentagon office, in addition to sharing with friends (often with enlargements, photobooks, canvas prints, or, lately, puzzles).

Relative to many hobbiests, my gear is modest: one dSLR, two lenses, and flash; i also have a two lens m4/3 system and a (new) G1x. All shooting is raw, processed with DXO and printed at Costco. I am happy upgrading the dSLR body every five years or so (two generations).

I expect to go back through my prints in my dotage with enjoyment, and my family will after my passing. The prints are a source of constant comment from my Pentagon office visitors.

-- gearbox

PS I suppose that when the family comes to the mistress shots . . . it will be a bit like Madison County . . .

[Tim F]

I've spent the last month pondering the same thing. I love photography but on reflection I am often guilty of 'just' trying to make aestheticly pleasing images. This year I am going to narrow in on why I'm drawn to particular subjects and try to express what I find meaningful about them through my photography, then see if anyone wants to exhibit what I come up with.

[Andrea B.]

I photograph because I can't not.

[Bill Poole]

I have stopped photographing three times over the last 40 years--each time because I thought I had found something to fill the "photo hole" in my life. In the last decade of the last century, I thought I was clean, but I got curious about digital and bought a cheap digicam, the first step on a learning and upgrade path that will not quit. My quest to get images I really like using a digital camera also led me back to film -- 35mm, medium format, large format, in that order.

Today I am an ambidextrous imager with five camera of various vintages and varieties (including a digital SLR), and I try to take one of them for a walk every day. Why do I photograph? I'm not sure I want to know. The question is the journey.

[Bill OBrien]

You Guys make me feel bad, I do photography because I enjoy it, ever since I was about 12 and a friend of my father (Elmer Lapp) somehow managed to find a Kodak 35 mm camera that he thought I should have, guess he got tired of me drooling on his Lecia. It makes me happy.

[James Sinks]

Sunset-golden sodium vapor lamps set foggy bridges on fire. Cement grows beneath mercury vapor lamps. Light pollution stains the sky like tobacco spit. Doorways and windows float on a sea of darkness. Tree limbs shatter like glass. Leaves burn like candles. Forests of moss break the sidewalks apart. Slime molds fruit in the earth, fireflies blossom in the sky, and caterpillars bud at the end of every twig. Crows swim through the salty air, centipedes tapdance over the pavement, and possums sashay across the road. People are just shadows on glass or streaks of light on pavement.

There is darkness.

There is light.

I live in my own little world and photography is the only way I can share that: I can't draw, can't paint, make very bad sculptures, and write very slowly (and poorly). But I do know how to press the shutter release.

[Michel]

i'm with Roger (from the featured comments).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwUJH70ubM

[Boglev]

Because I don't want to do anything else. That's why I photograph.

[Mike Johnston]

I photograph because "Die Welt ist schön."

(German for "The World is beautiful," and also the title of a famous photographic book by Albert Renger-Patzsch.)

Mike

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Oh dear. Well first things first.

@ Roger Overall: Not to worry, Roger. Yes, those images show a horribly disfigured scene but it's for a good cause. You're seeing a tiny corner of the early stage of a large park renovation project that will, in about two years, produce a better and more usable park (not a parking lot!).

There are some terrific and truly thoughtful responses and comments here. Of course there are no "right" or even "good/better/best" answers. The question is merely an invitation for you to visit a dial-tone level topic.

As an interesting observation, the young people (teens through 20's) I've asked tend to answer in more social terms. The value and compulsion of photography for them lies almost exclusively in its social currency. Where they've been (or where they ARE), who they've seen, what they've done, sharing how something looks. Photography has a highly transitory value in their world. Perhaps it will change with age. Perhaps not.

For me photography is an immeasurably enjoyable contemplative and expressive medium, not to mention a fascinating field of study. The challenge of finding (or creating) and capturing a "good" image is irresistible. I'm with Andrea B. who wrote, "I photograph because I can't not.".

[Maggie Osterberg]

I'm building a low-res, indoor/outdoor time machine. A sort of ladder to the future that I and anyone else who cares to can use to climb back down and see what a tiny sample of the past looked like.

[Ed G.]

I was all set to comment, and then I read the thread and Mike already said it. "All I know is the world looks beautiful".

[almostinfamous]

let me be indulge in a bit of hyperbole here:

Why do you paint(photograph)?
For exactly the same reason I breathe.
That’s not an answer.
There isn’t any answer.
How long hasn’t there been any answer?
As long as I can remember.
And how long have you written(photographed)?
As long as I can remember.
I mean poetry(photography).
So do I.
"E.E Cummings, Forward to an Exhibit: II" (1945) With a few parenthetical (graffiti) marks by me.

the full interview/poem here: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cummings/commentary.htm

[Armand]

I used to love taking pictures when we were in high school. I remember going to the WWII cemeteries carrying the Canon AE-1 with my school friends to take pictures. My dad used to take pictures of us growing up using a Yashica Mat.

I would buy disposable cameras whenever we travelled but never bought a regular camera even though I had this desire to buy one. I got serious into photography after we had our first baby to capture all those beautiful moments. After two boys, I have more gear than I could handle. My first boy started playing soccer in little league so enjoying taking pictures of his soccer matches besides other things.

Life is beautiful so I try to capture those moments.

[Tim Auger]

I blame my father. When I was a kid in the 1950s, my parents would go off to warm, colourful places such as Italy, and take lots of slides. My brothers and I didn't get further than Cornwall at that time. Years later, in the SLR days, I would borrow his Nikkormat. After any of us went travelling there would always be a slide show.

I also have the travel bug, and I think subconsciously my itch to take pictures is the desire to capture, and keep, the glamorous world of 'abroad', which seemed a distant dream when I was ten, and still lures me on at the age of 65!

The photos themselves don't always live up to expectations (understatement), but I don't think that matters. I enjoy the technical challenges of framing the shot, as well as the 'engineered' qualities of older prime lenses. And learning the intricacies of post-processing has been thoroughly satisfying.

[Goff]

I am an amateur photographer, and as such my photography is concerned with recording people, events, places that mean something to me, and to family and friends who like to have copies of my photographs. I call myself a photographer (rather than a snapper) because I have taken the trouble to learn the skills of the craft, and to apply them with a view to making my pictures have a lasting quality. I want my prints, and the pictures in my photobooks, cards and calendars to be as good as the best that one sees in the shops and on the web. I have learned the skills of editing and curating so that my books and exhibitions can stand alongside those from professionals. My photographic products are not for sale; they are to delight family and friends, and to provide a "thank you" to tradesmen and others who provide service. I get pleasure in giving pleasure through pictures, and I strive to make them interesting and well made, and relevant for the recipient. I love to receive feedback that shows that a well-chosen picture is appreciated; to hear the comment about a landscape of the recipient's homeland that the picture "shows it better than they see it".
That is why I photography is my hobby. Goff

[Hans Muus]

I photograph out of love for the world visual. I want to show to others what I see, or how the world presents itself to me. I am immensly pleased and motivated when my 'message' gets across. This in turn leads me to keep looking (or being attentive) in ways that are fresh or new to me. I have considered painting at various points in my life, but I love the all-inclusiveness of the photographic image too much - and also its proof-like quality, however subjective, of this part of the world looking this way at this moment in time.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

For me it's documenting things -- for me, for others, for the future. I've had this urge since, oh, when I was in second grade at the very least (I've got negatives going back to then). I try to organize and label my work well enough to make it useful to others (with rather mixed success).

[PeckhamRyeCrow]

One reason I continue to pursue photography is that it helps me to really look; it provides a reason to stand and stare.

[Fawzan Husain]

Both the shots are nice but my favorite is 1st one. It is tremendous.

[Andreas]

I photograph because I can't imagine not photographing.

[Jonathan]

Many reasons. Had an epiphany some years ago after visiting the old neighborhood. Everything seemed to have changed so much since I had left. But then I looked at family-album pics of the same area in the even more distant past and saw that in reality little had changed.

Memory is important. Mine is better than most but no one's is very good over long periods. Memories drift and change in response to newer events. Once a memory changes it's difficult to retrieve the original version, and even the original was probably inaccurate. Making images is one of the better ways to keep memories from drifting too much, and to retain memories that one might otherwise lose.

[Chris Y.]

Just pondering how to answer this when the perfect quotation sprang to mind: in the Bill Cunningham documentary, he is shooting a charity reception somewhere, one of two he will do that night, commuting on his bicycle, at age 80 or so. Someone is chasing him with a plate of food saying "please, eat something.." - he lowers the camera long enough to smile and tell her "No, no thanks... I eat with my eyes..." Isn't that about it?

[Steve Jacob]

When I walk without a camera I take the quickest route and retreat into a bubble, occasionally glancing at the view along the Thames, or the traffic when crossing the street. But mostly I just walk and think my own thoughts.

But if I have a camera with me, I look at everything around me. I take detours on a whim, or just pick a spot and watch for a while, or chat to people I meet.

My surroundings fragment into an infinite set of fractal cameos: The Kodachrome splash of graffiti on a concrete wall, a 16th century pub squashed between concrete offices, two women chatting animatedly in the coffee shop window, the textures of a rusting barge on the mud at low tide, or the sunlit reflection of the skyline in a puddle after the rain.

They don't all make great photos, but the act of searching makes the world an infinitely more fascinating place, and one I feel far more connected to.

[MJFerron]

It's my creative outlet and must say I'm not half bad. (sometimes) I mess with the guitar and I'm horrible, Tried oil painting and bombed, can't dance, can't sing all that well so photography beckoned and for me was the one.

[Another Phil]

@James Sinks. Thank you!

[Gary O'Callaghan]

Photography is an incredible excuse for buying yet more equipment.

[Jeff Hohner]

I can't recall which photographer said it (one of the large format guys from the 90's? an American?) but, "Photography for me is an excuse to be in the world," sums it up for me. Engagement, active connection, pursuit of understanding the world through aesthetic exercise. Being out and about with a camera always makes me feel more complete.

[Enrique]

Very meaningful words, I could subscribe each of them. But even more meaningful are the two photographs. I have exactly the same example as taken from my parents' home, before and after development, and am sure that there are plenty of more examples out there. I wonder if Mike might like to cast a Readers' "before and after" Pictures' post.

[Roger Bradbury]

I just like making things. It could be a photo, and usually is, but I've made a shed, customised a motorcycle, built a post box, built nest boxes, built an alarm system, made a flash diffuser/reflector and many other things.

I spend a lot of time sketching designs on graph paper; this is where my ideas came from in my comment to the You Just Gotta Love Pentax post, above. I far prefer this sort of brain exercise to doing crosswords or sudoku.

But I photograph because I must. Sometimes when I'm weary and limping and don't want to move I realise there's a photo I can take and I struggle to my feet, no matter how it hurts. On Christmas Eve I was photographing the lights in the High Street and a couple of amiable drunks asked me why I was taking pictures. "For my own entertainment" I replied.

Sometimes, at big noisy parties I will take the camera and a big flashgun. I have Asperger's Syndrome and I'm not good at big noisy parties; being "The Photographer" means that I am in what is to me a structured situation and I'm much more comfortable. That doesn't mean that I do not strive to take the very best photos I can. The flash diffuser/reflector I made (above) was to improve the lighting quality at these parties.

Er, Mike, I've gone all italic for some reason...

[J]

More than 50 years ago I started taking photos and was thrilled by the images I could create. Today, I am still thrilled by the old ones as well as the new ones I create today.
Maslow would understand.

[Tim Woodcock]

I'm sure that, for each of us, the 'Why?' of it changes with time.

My time-line, underlined by a stream of enjoyment, goes - curiosity, fascination, hunger to learn and improve, earn a shekel, capturing the image and, recently, for my descendants.

Of these the last is surely the most relevant? I regret it wasn't in there right at the outset. I'm ashamed to say I was guilty of a certain photographic arrogance that blinded me to taking what I thought of as 'family snaps'. Luckily, sifting through my parents' family photo archive opened my eyes. I recommend it.

[Taran]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistwithlight/sets/72157632456864838/