- “Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” – Marc Riboud . This famous quote by Riboud likens the act of photography to immersing oneself in life’s intensity, capturing fragments of time that might otherwise slip away.
- “Photography is a love affair with life.” – Burk Uzzle . Uzzle’s oft-cited wisdom equates the camera to a passionate companion – to photograph is to deeply cherish and engage with the world.
- “For me, photography is a celebration of life.” – Pavitrata Taylor . In Taylor’s words, the medium becomes a form of gratitude and exaltation for simply being alive, reflecting personal hopes and aspirations through art.
- “Photography…It is a way of life.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson . The legendary Cartier-Bresson saw photography not just as an art but as “a means of understanding” and living. He believed taking photographs is an act of aligning one’s head, eye, and heart – a lifestyle of observing and sensing the world .
- “We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.” – Ralph Hattersley . This insight from educator Hattersley suggests that every shutter click is part of a personal quest for meaning, using images to decode the significance of our own experiences.
- “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange . Lange’s classic quote highlights the almost magical power of a photograph: to freeze a moment of life, allowing us to appreciate details and emotions that would otherwise be lost to time.
- “A photograph is the pause button of life.” – Tyler Shields . In contemporary phrasing, Shields expresses a similar idea – that snapping a photo lets us pause the flow of life, preserving a fleeting scene or feeling which we can revisit again and again.
- “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels… and is thereby a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.” – Ansel Adams . Adams, a master of visualization, believed that the best images encapsulate the totality of the photographer’s emotions toward the subject and toward life itself . In other words, to make a meaningful photograph is to say something about being alive.
Philosophies of Joyful Seeing
Throughout the history of photography, thinkers and artists have written about the philosophy of seeing the world through a lens – often describing it as a joyful, life-affirming act. Many essays emphasize that photography is not merely a technical process, but a way to embrace the present moment and “give a meaning to the world” . For instance, Cartier-Bresson wrote that in order to make a meaningful photo, one must feel “involved in what one frames”, aligning intuition and sensitivity with the act of looking . This deep involvement turns camera work into celebration rather than mere documentation.
One photographer, in an essay on The “Way” of Photography, described the craft as having both practical simplicity (“see something… click”) and a mysterious, almost spiritual dimension . He notes that if one aspires to remain visually perceptive, “things happen on another level” – moments seem to present themselves quietly when the photographer is truly open . In his view, to be a photographer is to be a pilgrim through the visual world, using the camera to focus one’s awareness and develop an “inner eye” that reveals the beauty in the seen world . This sentiment echoes the idea that photography, at its heart, is about learning to see – training ourselves to find significance and wonder in what might appear mundane to a casual glance. As another author put it, the process of taking a photo becomes our happiness: it slows us down and connects us with the world and with ourselves, making us “happy in the present moment” .
Modern photographer-writers continue this line of thought. In David duChemin’s reflections, he urges photographers to remember the “joy and magic” that drew them to the craft. Photography, he suggests, is far more than producing images – it’s a way of being fully present, curious, and alive to the world. Even when we aren’t pressing the shutter, we can engage with photographs to “savour life… one-hundredth of a second at a time,” as Marc Riboud famously said . DuChemin reminds us that looking at photos, recalling memories, and noticing light and details are all part of a photographer’s joyful dialogue with life . In a similar vein, photographer and teacher Freeman Patterson has described photography as the art of seeing, noting that it’s less about the objects we look at and more about how we look. This mindset transforms photography into a form of active meditation – a practice of observing with patience and openness. It’s about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, which indeed can make “the moment and its eternity” visible .
Many classic writings also link photography with an almost childlike sense of play and discovery. For example, an essay on youth and happiness suggests that we often start taking photos when we’re young because it brings us joy and “amazing energy.” Over time, when life grows complicated, photography “intervenes” to remind us how to look for happiness again: “The process of taking a photo becomes our happiness… connected with ourselves and others, and happy in the present moment. And all this thanks to photography.” . In this way, taking photos is portrayed as a joyful act of living – an antidote to routine that revives our sense of wonder. By engaging our creativity and attention, the camera helps us “transpose” reality into something meaningful , allowing us not only to document life but to celebrate it with every click.
Photographers on the Joy of the Craft
Many photographers themselves have spoken in interviews about the joy and meaning they derive from photography. Their personal stories illustrate how taking photos can be both exhilarating and deeply fulfilling, as well as how it keeps them connected to life’s most vivid moments:
- Arjun Mark (India) – In an interview, Arjun recounted an unforgettable moment from a shoot when he was diving with his camera and found himself face-to-face with a white shark. After surfacing unharmed, he and his team sat together, adrenaline still coursing, and realized “this is life. This is why we do what we do.” It was a moment of pure euphoria and presence. “The most joy I will ever get is when I am humbled. I have never lived so hard in a moment,” he reflected . For him, photography has delivered such peak experiences – from fulfilling a dream of photographing his sports hero Lionel Messi, to witnessing human resilience in disaster zones – that underscore how alive the craft makes him feel. Each rare, proud capture brings “an immense amount of joy”, precisely because great moments are hard-won .
- Avani Rai (India) – Avani describes joy in photography as something subtle and profound. She believes “moments often reveal themselves in all their emotions and nuances” if a photographer is open to seeing them . The key, she says, is tuning into the rhythm of life unfolding around you. “There is a rhythm that life takes, just like your heartbeat… to be able to narrow down to that rhythm in that moment in time is joy,” Rai explains . In practice, this means patiently watching multiple “parallel universes” of activity and emotion occur, until you recognize the moment where it all converges. “The moment is in front of you. You have to be open to see it,” she notes, emphasizing presence and receptivity . Her philosophy highlights that the joy of photography comes from immersing oneself in the present, sensing when all elements of a scene align into something meaningful. It’s a quiet joy – the satisfaction of truly seeing and capturing what most might overlook.
- Anurag Banerjee (India) – For Anurag, joy is light. A self-described chaser of natural light, he finds happiness whenever he enters a space and sees beautiful sunshine or dramatic shadows dancing around . “Good light is something that brings me joy,” he says simply . What’s striking is that he’s talking about the most ordinary scenes – an everyday room made special by a shaft of sun, or a commonplace street rendered poetic by long shadows. “There is something about a scene like that, which is so commonplace, so everyday and so ordinary,” Banerjee explains, “I feel like it’s something that binds us all, and I feel a lot of joy in that sense of union.” Here, he touches on a powerful idea: by photographing the ordinary under exquisite light, he celebrates a shared human experience. Even in dark times, he views joy as a form of rebellion. “We are joyful despite the circumstances, not because of it,” and to capture a joyful moment in a bleak context is to offer a respite and a statement of hope . His work aims to remind viewers (and himself) that light and joy persist, making people feel “less alone” even when life is hard .
- Hashim Badani (India) – Badani finds “joy stems from the every day.” As a photographer who treats Mumbai’s daily life as his muse, he speaks of finding healing and happiness in observing ordinary people and routines . He deliberately spends time walking the city, “spending less time looking into my phone and just observing” small daily rituals – a morning walk, someone watering plants, a familiar street dog greeting its regulars . “What I might think is a normal day might be a specific festival for someone else,” he notes, so there is always something to celebrate if you look from another’s perspective . He draws joy from this shared human tapestry, saying: “There is something to celebrate every day and there is joy in the everydayness, and I want to celebrate its effortlessness.” In his interview, Badani also recounts photographing a palliative care center – a setting of pain and love – and discovering quiet joy amid the heartbreak, in the dignity and dedication of caregivers . His takeaway is that by listening and observing with empathy, a photographer can find moments of grace and joy even in difficult environments, and those moments are worth honoring with the camera.
- Joy Prouty (USA) – As both a photographer and author, Joy Prouty advocates using photography as a form of self-care and mindfulness. In a recent podcast, she discussed how even professional photographers can lose sight of why they fell in love with photography, especially when busy or stressed. Prouty’s approach is to “practice presence” with the camera: slow down, let go of perfectionism, and use photography as a “vehicle for wellbeing and self-compassion” in daily life . For her, the joy of photography often lies in personal moments with family – not in staged portraits or client work, but in spontaneously documenting her children or her everyday surroundings as a mother. She encourages others to leverage small acts like picking up the camera with intention, using affirmations, and even putting the camera down at times – all in service of experiencing gratitude and joy in the moment (especially the moments that truly matter in one’s personal life ). Prouty’s perspective reminds us that the camera can be both a creative tool and a therapeutic tool. By embracing imperfection and authenticity, photographers can reconnect with the playful, life-affirming essence of making pictures – the simple happiness of noticing a beam of light, a loved one’s expression, or a small daily miracle and capturing it to remember. As she put it, photography can be “therapeutic art” rather than a chore , returning us to a state of curiosity and joy.
The Beauty in Everyday Moments – Real-World Examples
Great photographers have long shown that the mundane can be magnificent. Entire movements and projects in photography have been devoted to celebrating daily life, ordinary people, and personal moments, revealing the profound beauty in what might seem trivial.
One famous example is Humans of New York (HONY), Brandon Stanton’s ongoing street portrait project. Stanton wanders the streets of New York City every day, approaching strangers for a photo and a brief interview. The result is a collection of portraits and mini-stories that capture the raw variety of human life. As one observer noted, HONY’s straightforward shots of “parents with children, festively attired seniors, and proud oddballs” consistently garner enormous positive reaction online . Viewers find “much to celebrate” in these images because they highlight the unique character and dignity of everyday people. The project is often described as a “celebration of life” on the streets – showing that everyone has a story and that there is beauty in every face, whether joyful, weary, or quirky . By combining compassion with curiosity, Stanton’s work has created a vibrant, living catalogue of urban life, proving that no one is ordinary when truly seen. It has inspired many to notice the “extraordinary humans” around them in daily life .
Another powerful example is the Everyday Projects, a series of Instagram-born photo collections that began with Everyday Africa. In 2012, photojournalists Peter DiCampo and Austin Merrill started posting candid iPhone photos of daily life in Ivory Coast – not the dramatic conflict scenes they were on assignment for, but the in-between moments: kids playing, men fixing a car, friends laughing over a meal . These images of normal life felt refreshingly real. “Together, [the pictures] felt more accurate, complete, and familiar” than the stereotyped news images often seen . The project struck a chord and soon expanded; photographers across the continent contributed to Everyday Africa, and others created Everyday Asia, Everyday Latin America, Everyday Bronx, and many more, each sharing slice-of-life scenes from their communities. The unifying idea is to “show us how we get through life” around the world – highlighting common humanity through daily routines and small joys . The Everyday feeds celebrate things like a father walking his children to school, a street vendor arranging produce, teens taking selfies – moments that might seem banal, but collectively form the fabric of real life. By presenting these to a global audience, the projects challenge negative stereotypes and invite viewers to appreciate the textures of ordinary existence in every culture . It’s an ongoing visual testament that every day, everywhere, life is happening in millions of humble, lovely ways. As co-founder Austin Merrill said, seeing these photos from around the world that “show us how we get through life” is the next best thing to living everywhere immortally – they let us resonate with one another’s day-to-day experiences.
Celebrating daily life is also at the heart of documentary family photography and personal photo projects. For example, French photographer Catherine Le Scolan-Quéré – a medical doctor by trade – has said “I want my images to celebrate daily life and human beings in the most poetic way.” Her street and travel photographs focus on ordinary people and moments, but with a sensitive eye for color and composition that elevates them. She notes that in both medicine and photography, “it is the human that interests me” , and by finding poetry in daily interactions, she honors that interest. Many other photographers share this ethos: from capturing their children’s messy, joyful play to quiet scenes of domestic life, they find grace in the commonplace. These images may not win awards for drama, but they often resonate deeply with viewers because they reflect our own lives. Seeing an elegant photo of a morning routine or a familiar street corner can remind us that our everyday is inherently meaningful and beautiful – it’s the stuff life is made of.
Even in professional circles, contests and festivals have categories for “Daily Life” photography, underscoring its importance. Winners of these often depict scenes like a family meal in a remote village, commuters packed on a train, or friends gathering at a local festival – images that shine precisely because they are universal and authentic. They celebrate what the famous curator Edward Steichen called “the commonalities of the human experience.” For instance, the classic 1955 exhibition The Family of Man was explicitly designed to showcase the beauty of everyday life around the globe – new mothers with infants, farmers at work, children at play – affirming a shared humanity through photographs.
In short, photographers have demonstrated in myriad ways that the mundane can be magical. By focusing their lenses on mundane beauty and personal moments – a grandmother’s hands, a couple laughing in a café, laundry fluttering on a line – they exalt life itself. The viewer, in turn, is invited to slow down and appreciate these fragments of daily life. As the saying goes in photography, “it’s the little things” – and capturing those little things can fill one with a profound sense of joy and connection to others.
Presence, Happiness, and the Power of Photography
Is there a link between taking photos and feeling more joyful and present? Research and cultural observation suggest yes. A scientific study by Yale University examined how taking pictures affects our enjoyment of experiences. Across multiple experiments, researchers found that actively photographing an experience can boost engagement and pleasure. People allowed to take photos – whether on a sightseeing tour or while eating at a diner – were more immersed in the moment and later reported higher enjoyment than those who simply observed . In the authors’ words, “Photo-taking leads people to become more engaged with the experience,” which in turn means they “derive more enjoyment” from it . Essentially, wielding a camera encourages a mindful attention to one’s surroundings – looking for interesting angles or moments – and this heightened presence translates into a richer experience. The study even backed this up with eye-tracking: visitors to an art exhibit who took photos looked longer at the artworks they photographed . By intensifying focus, the camera helped them savor what they were seeing. (The research did note a few caveats – if an activity is already highly absorbing on its own, photography doesn’t add enjoyment, and taking photos of negative experiences can actually worsen the feelings . But for most positive experiences, moderate photo-taking proved beneficial.) This is a fascinating confirmation of what many enthusiasts intuitively feel: that photography can be a conduit to joy, literally changing how we experience life’s moments. It suggests that the act of framing a shot – even mentally – urges us to be here now, to find something worthwhile in our immediate present, which is the core of happiness.
On a personal level, many have likened photography to a form of mindfulness or therapy. “Photography is like meditation for me, and it makes me happy,” says Eldar Khamitov, one of several photographers who shared their motivations in a recent interview . He explains that shooting photos calms his nerves and allows him to be present in the moment, helping him escape the stress of daily life . This aligns with a broader movement in the photography community that embraces slow, intentional shooting as a wellness practice. There are workshops and books on “mindful photography” which encourage people to take walks with a camera, focus on breathing, notice details in nature or at home, and click the shutter only when they truly feel something. Such routines can ground the photographer in the now, much like traditional meditation, but with the bonus of a visual keepsake of that mindfulness. As one mindful photography advocate writes, it’s about “finding joy in the process, being present in the moment, and connecting with your environment” . The camera becomes a tool to train one’s awareness and gratitude.
This idea is especially powerful for those who use photography in coping with life’s challenges. For example, during the COVID-19 quarantine, many people turned to everyday photography projects – documenting their home life or neighborhood daily – as a way to stay positive and engaged. By seeking out a beautiful ray of light on the wall or the humor in a messy kitchen, they found purpose and joy despite the anxiety around them. Cultural commentators noted that even simple acts like sharing a photo of a nicely plated home-cooked meal on social media became a way to boost morale and appreciate small pleasures during lockdowns.
Furthermore, photography can strengthen our emotional connections. Taking pictures of loved ones, events, or personal moments often increases our appreciation for those moments. Psychologically, when you know you’ve saved a moment in a photo, it can free you to experience it more deeply (a phenomenon some describe as the “secure capture” feeling). Later, looking at those photos can trigger gratitude and happiness. In this sense, photographs are “vestiges” of our lives that keep memories alive and meaningful . As Brigitte Bardot poignantly said, “A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.” . This perpetual dialogue with our past self is a source of comfort and joy; our photo albums become treasure troves of positive emotion and identity. Even scientific studies on nostalgia have found that reflecting on happy memories (often prompted by photos) can increase optimism and decrease stress.
Finally, the sense of purpose and flow that photography provides contributes to happiness. Many photographers describe entering a nearly euphoric focused state when shooting – time seems to melt away, and they feel “in the zone.” This flow state is known to boost well-being. The late great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson described it as a moment when “all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality… mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” . That joy he mentions is the thrill of total presence – the chase of the decisive moment where one’s skill and intuition unite with an unfolding slice of life. Not only does the photographer feel joy in that split second, but if the resulting image is powerful, it can spread joy or inspiration to viewers as well. Think of how a vibrant photo of a street celebration or a tender family scene can brighten someone’s mood; the photographer’s presence and elation while creating the image somehow transmits through the frame. In this way, photography’s celebration of life is contagious.
In conclusion, photography’s relationship with life, joy, and presence is rich and multi-faceted. From the wisdom of masters who professed it to be “a way of life” and a mirror of one’s love of the world, to contemporary voices who use it for mindfulness and well-being, the theme is clear: to photograph is to celebrate what it means to be alive. Every click can be an affirmation of the moment, an act of noticing the good, the beautiful, the human. Whether through inspiring quotes, philosophical essays, personal testimonies, or global projects, we see that picking up a camera is often an act of hope and joy. It’s a declaration that this moment matters. It’s the thrill of finding meaning in a split second of light and time. And ultimately, it’s a reminder that life itself – with all its light and shadow, its fleeting smiles and unscripted stories – is worth cherishing, every hundredth of a second.