While all art is capable of striking a special chord within us all, there’s just something different about photography. Whether you’re into appreciating the world’s most beautiful places via lush landscape photography or absolutely crazy for personal portraits that tell a human story, a photograph is just…. special. However, determining exactly why photographs have the power to capture a multitude of hearts and minds requires a bit of thought. The answer is likely to vary a bit from person to person, but many can agree that the following figure into the mix for certain.
Photography Preserves Moments
A photograph is so much more than just a piece of art. It’s more than a simple way to record events for the sake of posterity as well. Expert photography actually captures moments – moments complete with the emotions and details that made them special. It’s capable of capturing the spirit of a beautiful day or the unique elegance of a special person with an accuracy that even the most detailed painting or sketch can’t capture. When you look at a photograph, you really are bearing witness to a one-of-a-kind moment that will never be repeated in quite the same way again.
Photography Helps You Grow
If you’re a photographer yourself, then you already know that the act of delving into photography can change you in profound and unexpected ways. You learn how to see the world around you in unique new ways. The act of waiting for the right moment to present itself teaches you to be more patient than you ever thought possible. Most importantly of all, you learn how to make art a part of how you see and appreciate reality on an everyday basis. You’ll never be quite the same once you learn to look at life through photographer’s eyes.
Photography Expands Your Horizons
When you’re into using a camera to capture the world around you, you find yourself becoming more adventurous in the most wonderful ways. (If you’re into landscape photography, then this will happen in a very literal sense.) You’ll become hungry for new places and new experiences to record, capture, and share. You’ll evolve into a version of yourself that loves nothing more than an out-of-the-way trail, a solitary sunset, or a gorgeous hideaway that most people would miss… and you’ll be better for it.
Photography Is Universal
While some people can certainly appreciate a well-executed piece of traditional art, Jackson Pollock, Claude Monet, and Salvador Dali – skillful though they are – aren’t necessarily for everyone. However, because of the way photographs capture reality, it’s something that anyone can appreciate, art aficionado or not. With photography, a picture really can be worth a thousand words. It can convey emotion, record events with painstaking accuracy, and provoke the most wonderful thoughts. Best of all, it does so in way that transcends cultural differences, language barriers, and so much more.
At the end of the day, photography means a little something different to everyone. However, it can also be said to be capable of speaking to literally anyone just by its very nature.
