When ever I speak to a photographer I always ask what got them into photography. Often it’s the enjoyment of it or the sense of achievement when they capture a great shot. For me these didn’t come into play as much as you may expect, so here is the real reason I started photography. While at university I was down, the lowest I had for many years. I won’t say why as I don’t feel it’s appropriate to put here but trust me, I was not in a good state. I kept trying to find a way out of this pit of self loathing but the more I tried the deeper the pit became. This went on for about 6 months where I was completely on edge, snappy and unsociable. Then one day I was laying on my bed playing with the camera on my phone thinking of interesting things I could photograph. I then just got up and went for a walk to find things to capture, this walk lasted nearly 4 hours.
In this time I started to actually relax and feel at ease for the first time in what felt like forever and I was enjoying something. A couple of weeks later I bought my DSLR camera and for a long time you wouldn’t see me without it. For what ever reason photography completely and utterly releases all the stresses I have even if for a short time. This is why I always had my camera with me as I knew if I was feeling down I could just go out and shoot. Didn’t matter what, where, how or when but just doing it helped. I saw that the student’s Union at Keele was looking for a photographer for their nights so I went along and was given a trial period. For the first time in a while I was socialising and actively wanting to.
I wish I could describe how it feels, imagine having the biggest headache of your life and it’s completely destroying your life and then you take some magical pill that takes away that tension and that pain completely straight away. That’s what photography does for me, it just makes everything okay for a while. I think we all need those times where we stop worrying and stop getting upset even for a moment and just live. 聽Even if it’s only so you can get in the right frame of mind to sort out the initial problem.
So what helps you relax and feel all okay? Please comment below your thoughts!
I think that it's wonderful that you've found something that has helped you through tough times in your life. Glad to know that it's given you happiness and enjoyment! 馃檪 xx
I love that photography has got you in the right "frame" of mind 馃檪
Thank you Peter! Much appreciated! :]
Yeh! It's brill! =]
Yeh! It's brill! =]
Hi Tom,been taking photos for a long long time,digital v film!!!Only one winner and that is film,I used Kodachrome64 or 25 depending on light conditions,but it was always the anticipation of the box of slides popping through the letterbox that I loved to see how you shots turned out.