I was recently having a conversation with a friend when he said that he was worried about his art because he didn’t have anything to say or any big ideas. In my own work, I at times it had similar thoughts. The reality is, we all have something important to say.
In photography, sometimes were just moved by the light. The subtle way that it touches and wraps around the subject is enough to invoke in us a feeling or emotion. In many cases, that can be as powerful, and moving is taking on some of the more significant social issues that seem to be common and a lot of documentary and gallery type work today.
Sometimes it is the smallest idea or gesture that can make the most significant impact. If you think about those times when your hands are full, and somebody holds the door for you, that small gesture means everything. In creating your own work and spending time behind the camera, you might find that what you have to say is something small and powerful that doesn’t need to be shouted with a megaphone. Or, sometimes we don’t even know what we want to say until we take the picture.
As you go out this week to explore and photograph the world, I would encourage you to think less about how big your message is or what might become of your photographs and focus more on how they impact you as a photographer.
