We point, aim and shoot at the world

My gun holds fast to the light And keeps time.

Thoughts on photography

The inevitable deterioration of all things will certainly find the photographic image in time too, the rate at which its fibers weaken is dependent upon a whole range of variables such as the quality and proportions of decomposing materials but unlike us humans it will take take, more time than our lives take, the photograph will outlive us and perhaps this is part of its appeal. Like a child or a work we made in our lifetime the photograph stands to represent us, to serve as proof of our existence. A neat compact representation of information, we fill in the rest of the story with memory or imagination. Untainted by movement or sounds the viewer can indulge in this slice of time, this single moment.

Like Salome, the camera hides more than it reveals, the power of an image is not only held in what it presents but what it conceals, suggests, the context in which it is read or received and of course our experience and personal understanding of what that might mean.

Through photographs the world becomes a series of unrelated freestanding particles, a way of paying attention to details of a shared world, I see this, i noticed this, I like the way this looks (makes me feel) or capturing something that appears to be shocking or unusual. Photography allows us to share our quirks without embodying them, to point to things of interest or explain imaginings without having to say a word. By being specific as to what we include in the frame but being vague by using our interpretation of symbolic representations as a form of messaging. How much control we have over the actual content or subject is parallel with how much control we have over the theme or initial point of interest to start.

When faced with the threat of losing possessions when asked what people might choose to save or to take with them are their photographs. That would usually mean a box or an album brimming with times and faces and places, but how have these physical objects changed in an age of digital imagery? Does it mean a harddrive or a computer box now replace the number 1 physical object? or does it suggest that physical photographs as objects are becoming obsolete? This photographic evidence of past experiences now just take up space in our homes.

A primitive action is to want to preserve the memory of passed family and loved ones, those who made us feel something good in our life. We hold onto them, we want to recreate and remember the people that affect us, for somehow their existence and now their memory is part of us. As conscious beings we can choose who we want to be associated with, just as we can choose to disassociate ourselves with those that we do not.Photographs hold these ideas, places and people that we no longer wish to be connected to. for example A time could hold good memories but the wrong fashion or a bad haircut, no longer portraying us how we wish to be portrayed. Everyday I am developing who I am and building my sense of self, so these images of a past self could seem immature, underdeveloped or disconnected.

It proves that we were not always the way we are now. This can work both ways if we are unhappy with the current situation (or interpretation of self) and the photograph represents a preferable version or portrays a desirable interpretation of the self. Keeping in mind that unlike us photographs are still, they can capture and hold onto a moment of apparent perfection forever and ever. Presenting to the viewer constant pleasure, desire, beauty or.what appears to be perfection.

They can be staged and set, the place, the time and the feeling of a physical place can be created or imitated just for a moment in order to describe something, to tell some part of a story or suggest some part of an idea.

 http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/we-are-beautiful

 Sebastião Salgado: The silent drama of photography

Economics PhD Sebastião Salgado only took up photography in his 30s, but the discipline became an obsession. His years-long projects beautifully capture the human side of a global story that all too often involves death, destruction or decay. Here, he tells a deeply personal story of the craft that nearly killed him, and shows breathtaking images from his latest work, Genesis, which documents the world’s forgotten people and places.

David Griffin: How photography connects us

Scot Sothern: Lowlife

Jimmy Nelson: Gorgeous portraits of the world’s vanishing people