ERIC KIM

The Impulse to Photograph

Something which interests me:

What motivates us to photograph?

Meaning:

  1. What is the initial impulse which motivates us to photograph something?
  2. Are there more optimal conditions to photograph?
  3. How do we determine what (or what not) to photograph?
  4. How do we determine how many photos of a certain scene to photograph?
  5. Why photograph?

Practical thoughts:

1. Personal vanity

selfie

Much of photography (selfies) are related to our personal vanity:

  1. Belief that we are beautiful and we want to document our own beauty. Why? Perhaps because we want to photograph ourself right now while we are still young and beautiful, in knowing that by delaying photographing ourselves right now, we might lose the chance to prove how beautiful we once were (once we are older and less beautiful). So perhaps one of the desires to selfie is fear of getting older and uglier into the future. Also part of shooting a selfie is because we find few other people as beautiful as ourselves?
  2. The vanity that we believe that we have a superior eye for seeing and creating beauty through photography. We don’t wish to squander our talents in photography (because Christian morality has taught us to waste our talents is a sin).

2. Desire to capture the beauty of our subjects

I don’t see any woman as beautiful as Cindy. Perhaps my impulse to photograph her is a physiological delight in looking at her face (I perceive she has an extremely beautiful face, with beautiful proportions, and the more I look at her, the more physiologically uplifted I feel).

3. The joy of composition

Perhaps an innate joy in composition. Seeing certain shapes and forms manifest in a certain way which gives us a feeling of power, dynamism, and strength.

Perhaps there are certain compositions which act as a positive creative tonic to us? Certain dynamic compositions which bring us deep delight, because of the delight of the beauty of life and being alive?

Slideshow, with golden rectangle composition:

4. The impulse to create

My theory:

Perhaps our desire to create is to somehow gain more control over reality. The power to fashion, design, and transfigure reality to our desires.

5. The ability to bring joy to others

For example when you’re documenting a certain meaningful event (which involves your meaningful others), by making photos of it and sharing the photos with them, you bring them delight. And you gain delight in giving others delight.