Why so serious?

Why are you so serious about making photographs?

Big spending on buying expensive camera gears, carrying your camera on daily basic, working early or very late to just get a “nice” picture are some examples for what I mean by being “serious”. But why?

Simple and common reason for many of us (I guess) is passion, or happiness and even being proud of ourselves when creating an “art” work. The reason may simply be your friends’ smiles when viewing their photographs taken by you. Photography goes further to the act of defining your identity and relevancy to others.

But “ART” is a dangerous word, because it is hard to find a clear and agreeable definition. Your photo may be a nice piece to you, but others don’t think so. You either listen to them or think “This is my way. You just don’t understand”.  But as time goes by, sadly, ART is fed by “appreciation” and “recognition”, or in other words, other’s opinions (this is an arguable point, I know). There will be a time when ART hungers and you are back to the point of asking “Why so serious?”

Money will certainly come as a reason sometimes. As I once discussed with a friend, there is a time when your hobby becomes a burden. Nevertheless, I still think that money should not be a main reason behind all of this “seriousness”. We don’t make photos only for money, but some “token of appreciation” would be good :D.

It probably goes to the inner need of expressing your thoughts, your curiosity and further, your vision. It’s like writing a diary. But when it all comes to your inner mind or your “diary”, it’s even more often to ask the question of “why so serious”. A diary for displaying, isn’t it interesting?

The question comes and goes along the journey. Just a point to wonder... Have it ever come across your mind?

Analox

Ps: The photos in this post (which is not so relating to the content) were taken on my last week in Offenbach, along the River Main. Blending 2 exposures, by Olympus E620 and 12-60mm SWD.