A Single Second

Ever since I was little, I have always enjoyed photography. I would take my mom’s camera and try to take pictures of random things. I did this so often that, when I was about eight, my parents finally gave in and bought me my own digital camera. Back then, I really had no reason for taking pictures except for the fact that I enjoyed it. But, even with all those photos that I took, I never understood why I enjoyed photography so much. Now, as I have gotten older, my interests and priorities have changed, but one thing that has remained the same is the enjoyment I get when taking photos. Through the course of the semester I have, however, realized why I enjoy taking photos.

For me, photography is a way to capture a moment, a single second, of the thousands that we experience every day. It’s a way to freeze time and look back on a memory later in life. As I grow older and begin to travel more, this has come more into effect. I am continuously gaining new experiences and memories that I want to remember for the rest of my life, and for me, photography is a way to capture these moments and look back on them.

I didn’t take this photo specifically for this project, but rather when I was on a family vacation in Rhode Island. The two people in the photo are my dad and sister. To this day, I still don’t know what they were talking about but I prefer it that way. It gives the photo a sense of mystery and possibility.

The second reason that I have for enjoying photography is similar to the first. I enjoy capturing the beauty of a place or object as I see it and sharing it with the world. A large group of people can all look at the same thing, but depending on the viewer’s background, each person sees the scene slightly differently. This is just a natural part of life. But what a specific person is seeing can be captured in a photograph and shared with others, giving them an entirely different perspective on the scene. Some things, like the sunset below, are quite clearly beautiful, but others aren’t. I have been experimenting a lot lately with taking pictures in the field behind my house, which is mostly weeds and mud. While it is not so obviously beautiful, at close inspection, there is something beautiful to be found there, and photography can help to capture it.

A sunset behind my house.

Really, for me, photography is a way to capture what I see around me, whether it be when I am traveling or on an everyday basis. But either way, in my opinion, a picture is more than just an image. A picture is a memory of a single second in time.

~Rachel C.