Life is More Important than Photography

Photography as a means to improve your life, not the ultimate end in itself:

Dear friend, 

As a reminder: the best use of photography as a means to improve your life. The point of photography isn’t to make photos for the sake of making photos. If photography doesn’t assist you in living a better life, figure out how to switch things up.

Composition is fun / Fibonacci Spiral 

Ultimately we will die, and we cannot take our photos with us. Furthermore no matter how famous of a photographer you become in your lifetime, sooner or later you (and your photos) will be forgotten.

So what is the point of making photos? Simple: to augment our lives; to improve our quality of life while we are still alive! 

For example I love street photography because it makes me more courageous. Through street photography, I talk more with strangers I’m interested in.

Photography also makes me more adventurous. To make more interesting photos generally means you want to take the road “off the beaten path”. This will lead you to having more interesting life expedience and encounters with others.

Furthermore, photography offers you the opportunity to analyze society more deeply. To critique and judge society; what you love and what you hate. 

Enjoy the beauty of everyday life 

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset. I saw this, parked my car, and shot out the car window. Huawei P20 Pro 

It is interesting; when I have a camera with me, I see more. I notice more.

I notice subtle beauty. Shadows, shapes, forms and light. Patterns, repeating forms, and textures:

I also find composition in photography one of the most fun and challenging things to do! Lately I’ve been experimenting with the Fibonacci Spiral composition, and have had a ton of fun with it:

So friend, make photography fun and easy for you:

  1. Shoot with the simplest, least annoying camera. Opt for a lighter, lighter, and more compact camera. RICOH GR II or just shoot with your phone. My favorite phone cameras right now include Huawei P20 Pro (for color) and Google Pixel 3 (for monochrome) 
  2. Shoot for yourself. Ask yourself, “If I couldn’t share my photos with others, would I still make photos?” 
  3. Use photography as a tool to create artwork as well as for memory augmentation. Look back at your old photos often, to re-live wonderful past memories. 

And remember:

Life is always more important than photography. 

ERIC