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by Shibani Pushparajah
 Is
photography actually an art? If anybody can take photographs, then why
is it considered an art?
Perhaps it’s about philosophy - why do people take pictures?
Maybe it’s about capturing the moment - one blink, one breath, and the
moment’s gone.
One snap, and the camera captures that moment, entwines time with light.
The camera, one of the world’s greatest inventions, allows us to capture
those visual memories. For instance our passage through time as we grow
up; the ability to depict those stages in life. The same applies to
taking pictures of famous buildings and places on holiday- although they
will remain, you will not always be there to admire their structure.
I take photos because photos are nothing but a frozen moment, an
impression, in time. Life itself is just an endless collection of
moments and impressions, each with its own individuality.
Those are reasons as to why we take pictures…but what about the people
who attempt to freeze a drop of water hitting a glass of water- how do
we explain those? Or those who spend thousands of pounds on macro lenses
so they can spend hours on end lying in the dirt taking photographs of
tiny leaves on flowers? Even those who spend days setting up a still
life, such as a bowl of fruit, before spending hours photographing it.
All that for some fruit?
Well I don’t know how to explain those groups of people, but it possibly
has something to do with preservation.
Taking particular photographs can show a different morsel of reality
from what you can normally see. A properly lit apple, for example, can
be a work of art in itself. Even a glass of water, perhaps one of the
most normal sights in the world, can become somewhat breathtaking.
My point being that photography enables you to look closely at
something. Even in its simplest form, a simple photograph can change
reality primarily.
For one thing, a motion will be stopped.
Did you know that in 99% of photographs taken, the exact same photograph
can never be taken again? That’s what makes photography so interesting
and every picture so different. A cloud has moved. A bird has moved. The
sun has changed character. Something changes, effectively changing the
scene, maybe forever, and the only proof that it ever happened is
captured on your film and in your memory. About five minutes later, your
memory fades, and the image captured by your camera is all that is left.
When we see an image, what moves us? Why do we feel the way we do? The
power to freeze a flowing motion is priceless, the ability to stop a
moment in time, and keep that moment with us forever. That’s what makes
taking pictures special, and is why we feel inclined to do so.
By taking just one snap, our camera traps something that happens within
1/2000th of a second, whereas our eyes alone cannot. This means that you
are able to create images that do not exist, images that cannot exist in
real life, images exclusive to photography. The ability to carry out the
impossible.
What makes photography an art is the fact that while you must learn to
paint or draw, learning to take pictures is not necessary. Take any
picture and more likely than not, the results will be beautiful. Be it a
bird flying in the air, or a simple pen lying on the table.
People are so used to using their eyes all day that they sometimes
forget to look. While I find something quite fascinating and meaningful
in every picture, not everybody feels the same way. That’s because they
do not read much into the picture, they do not conjure up an idea behind
why the picture was taken in the first place.
Sometimes, all we need is to study the photograph, look closely at it,
in order to find a hidden meaning, a purpose for its existence.
Inspiration- that’s all we need... and that’s what makes photography an
art.
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