Dear friend,
Consider— whatever you decide to photograph, you are blessing it with your lens.
1.
There is so much beauty and joy in the world. It is your job to uncover it with your lens. Whenever you click the shutter, you are blessing your subject. You are telling your subject:
You are important and beautiful.
2.
Why is it that we feel nervous to photograph things, people, or scenes?
My theory:
Many of us are ashamed of ourselves. We think of ourselves as picture thieves, rather than picture MAKERS.
We don’t “take” pictures. We MAKE pictures.
We MAKE beauty in the world, by re-arranging visual elements in the real world— via addition and subtraction with your lens.
You are a creator. You are a life-affirmer. You are a photo god.
3.
It is your duty to bestow significance to reality. Whenever you photograph something, you are signaling it’s significance and importance.
So let’s say you photograph a stranger and they get angry at you. Tell them:
“I photographed you because I find something beautiful in you.”
4. Do you love yourself?
Do you love yourself? Do you love how you look? Are you proud of yourself, or are you ashamed of yourself?
How do you feel being photographed— joyful or disgusted?
How would you feel being photographed nude? Do you have anything to hide to the camera or lens?
My suggestion if you don’t like being photographed: start a self-portrait series of yourself. You never need to publish them. Do it to build your own self-confidence. And if you’re brave enough, publish them. But you don’t need to.
The more you are comfortable photographing yourself, the more you will be photographing others. Why? Because every photograph you make is a self-portrait of yourself. You need to feel beautiful, before you inject your vision of beauty into your subject.
BE STRONG,
ERIC
PHOTOGRAPHY PHILOSOPHY
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- What’s Your Final Aim in Photography?
- If We Delete Our Pictures, Do We Delete Ourselves?
- There is No Truth in Photography; All is Allowed
- MEMENTO MORI PHOTOGRAPHY
- YOU ARE A PHOTO GOD.
- How to Gain More Control, Freedom, and Happiness in Your Photography
- The Will to Shoot
- The Art of Constantly BECOMING
- The Frame
- How to Increase Your Visual Perception
- Could an AI Shoot the Same Photo as You?
- A Photographer’s Guide to Seeing
- THE LESS REAL YOUR PHOTOS, THE BETTER.
- Photography as Experience
- SHOOT YOU.
- MAKE PICTURES, NOT PHOTOGRAPHS
- Why You Should Ignore Photography and Art Critics
- Do You Live to Photograph, or Photograph to Live?
- Living a Good Life is More Important Than Photography
- How to Start Fresh in Your Photography