my daily chirp

Someone said something to me that struck me as very interesting.

You are a good photographer. I love taking pictures too, but I wouldn't even call myself an amateur. That's why I say pictures and not photographs.

So why is this statement so interesting to me? Because before this one statement, I never thought to ask, What is a photographer? I always defined a photographer as someone who took really standout pictures. But after hearing, for the first time, a distinction between pictures and photographs as it relates to a person's abilities to take a picture (photograph), I truly began to reevaluate my definition.

From this one statement, I could see a photographer is not a person who can take standout pictures. A true photographer is a person who can show true meaning in the most common things around them. Who can show you their feelings towards the person, thing, item, event, etc. that they are photographing. A true photographer would rather see the expressions on the faces of the people who are looking at their pictures. Consequently, a photographer is someone who has the passion of wanting to show others what they see in the world around them.

So if you take pictures and want them to be photographs...upload them somewhere, put them out in your home, carry them in your wallet and share them with coworkers and friends. Share them and let the people around you see what you see. Be a photographer.

Labels: photography, thoughts