I Wish Someday People Will Quote My Words

What do you do when you do not have a car during the spring break? I read. I read about five books during last spring break and one of them was called <Image Makers Image Takers>, by Anne-Celine Jaeger. It is a really educational book as the style of it is doing interview of those photographers in different fields, including in commercial, portrait, documentary, fashion and even editor and gallery curator. Here is what I found fantastic of this book.
 Kathy Ryan, the editor of the New York Times Magazine, says “Photographers need to have a sense of what matters most to them and a driving force that gets them up in the morning. What are they after? What are they looking to do? They have to be able to reflect on what’s meaningful to them and what isn’t and have the discipline to pursue the meaningful. Invariably the best photographers are trying to say something about the world. They have the mission that goes beyond the aesthetic”(Jeager). The reason I love her words is because I found my pictures lacking of meaning.  But I am still looking for a way to find myself in photography. 

There are people who think photography could not make a living. However, Sebastiao Salgado, a Brazilian social documentary photojournalist says that "photography is so integrated in his life, it has become a way of life". As I am studying photography now, I wholeheartedly agree with him. Taking pictures is fun. Learning to take pictures is even more fun because all you are doing is to amaze yourself with your own pictures. Isn't it crazy!? This makes me think about my Lighting Studio course. By learning how to "driving" the large formate digital camera (it's all manual), we get the chance to take super spot on photo which you could even see the fuzz on the gray card. Anyway, I realize that I should stop complaining about all the hours I have to spend on each assignment, but to calm down and truly applying what I learnt form classes and practices to future shooting. 

I wish I could talk more about my favorite quotes in this book. I will try to include some in my next blogs. And I believe this book will help you find a clue of what you are trying to find for your own photography and even for your own life. I won't tell you it is available in the school library :)