Purpose in Photography

Why do you photograph?
Check out Terry's work:
www.flickr.com/photos/terryleeo/
Support me on Patreon:
/ adrianvila
---
Sign up for my weekly newsletter: aows.co/newsletter
Subscribe for more film and digital photography videos
goo.gl/HUwvVZ
My most personal book: "Becoming an American"
aows.co/store/books/becoming-...
// You might find these videos interesting ⇩
Why I bought a 5-year old Full Frame camera (Sony A7Rii in 2020)
• Why I bought a 5-year ...
My review of the Bronica SQ-Ai
• Bronica SQ-Ai: overvie...
10 tips to create better B&W images
• 10 tips to create bett...
How to compose in square format
• How to compose in squa...
// GET MY EBOOKS FOR FREE
"Photography is easy", "Long Exposure Photography", "Examples of the PNW" and "Lightroom CC Workflow"
aows.co/publications/
// GET IN TOUCH
aows.co/contact
// FIND ME HERE
Blog: aows.co/blog
Instagram: / aows
Twitter: / aows
Facebook: / aowsphotos
-----
GEAR I USE
-----
Main camera - amzn.to/371gTT1
Second camera - amzn.to/2yHoMvO
Wide angle lens - amzn.to/2XtYH1t
Standard zoom lens - amzn.to/2U6dGwi
Telephoto lens - amzn.to/2Nt69UO
Video cameras - amzn.to/2UZiJgm and amzn.to/2OfMN5c
Microphones - amzn.to/2IoSeiK and amzn.to/2xhjSq4
Tripod - amzn.to/2ULGqII
(affiliate links)

[@johntelli4927]

I think every person is creative and we all need a focus for our creativity. It might be writing, cooking, painting, music, or something else. For me it is my camera. You call it having a purpose but to me it feels more like nurturing an essential part of myself. I don’t need to be a good photographer but I do need to have a creative pursuit.

[@terryolsen4244]

This is a great message and topic. Your videos and photos are a constant source of inspiration and motivation. Thanks for the shout-out! I'm proud to be one of your supporters.

[@athulkrish9403]

what really makes a photograph exceptional ? I have been trying to understand my purpose but as i dig deeper in to the subject it takes me to different directions. Thus i end up in chaos

[@jameshider1234]

More wise words, thank you. I certainly wouldn't get out and see the world in the same way if I didn't have a camera

[@Tunesmithnw]

Thank you! This is very timely. I have been struggling with this question of purpose and direction for the last few weeks. I won't say you resolved my uncertainty, but you did give me food for thought, and I very much appreciate that.

[@saucybbaka]

thank you for this video, i was feeling kind of burned out but this helps.

[@peterkay9050]

What a great video. I love nothing more than shooting in churches. We have some wonderful buildings in the UK, in Spain they are even more spectacular and I can lose myself for hours with my Pentax and a wide prime. Setting aside a couple of hours to shoot something you love can often be enough to recharge and re-set. Projects though can also be about gear. I recently got a Yashica Mat TLR. My current project is 6x6 film and square formats. Having a purpose keeps you fresh. Another excellent video

[@georgedoherty6547]

Thank you for a genuinely inspiring video - one that genuinely made me stop and think. I’m a novice photographer but take great personal pleasure from it, only sharing what I take with up my family and couple of close friends. So, you’ve made me consider for the first time my own ‘why’: to reflect the beauty of the simple things around us we take for granted, and maybe encourage those closest to me to look twice themselves. And I wouldn’t have realised that if you hadn’t posted your video. So, gracias mi amigo

[@condaoultzis]

Andrea, your videos are always inspiring and you make me feel like grabbing my camera and going out to shoot whatever comes alomg the way. I even unveiled my old film camera and grabbed some shots so as to remember yesteryear! Thanks a lot!

[@ninala5610]

I used to take pictures because I loved the cameras. The fascination of twisting a few dials and make stuff appear different than how I saw them. Then for 15 years or so, I hardly took pictures at all. Not even family snapshots. Because I realized how much of my life I didn't experience by looking at the world through the viewfinder. I hardly ever noticed what was outside of the VF. Now I have taken photography up as a hobby again. So I guess it's creating for the purpose of distancing myself from everyday life now and again. Charging the batteries so to speak. Great topic!

[@geoffmphotography9444]

Delighted to discover your channel and subscribed. Your talk in this video I found inspiring. Thank you.

[@alejandroquirogagarcia342]

Al terminar el video me doy cuenta que voy cada vez mas cerca de mi propósito, gracias por el tiempo e inspirar !

[@ddsdss256]

Good points (as always). Authors are often told to "write what you know" and photographers are well-advised to shoot what they know. Besides being greener than travelling a lot just to see/photograph "exotic" things (which many others have already photographed many times), shooting locally helps you to create more unique images and share your world with others. There is "beauty" everywhere and it's up to you to discover it. Slowing down, seeing, and appreciating what you have around you will make you a much better photographer than heading off to Patagonia or the Faroes or Iceland hoping that the 100,000,000th shot taken there will end up as a portfolio piece (or worse, simply get some "likes").

[@bioliv1]

"Important Stories Aren’t Enough; Good Documentary Photography Matters!" Here are thousands of stories, most of them almost forgotten, I think only exceptional photography can bring them back to life.

[@athulkrish9403]

but what really makes a photograph exceptional ? I have been trying to understand my purpose but as i dig deeper in to the subject it takes me to different directions. Thus i end up in chaos

[@Fedor_Tkachev_Music]

I enjoy presenting beauty that would otherwise be unnoticed by most of the people.

[@Brian-xy1tw]

Nicely done! Very motivating.

[@AdamMatthewsPhotography]

Thank you for that extremely accessible discussion about purpose in photography! I think that some of these sorts of concepts can feel almost arcane, and I love how you describe it as much more approachable. I have a vague sense of my photographic purpose(s), but I haven't ever really sat down to work out how to best phrase it. I can see how helpful it would be to do that!

[@shmuelaryehkoltov241]

Thanks Adrian :) both for your photography, your videos, but mainly for your points made in this video. I have a tendency to loose focus on my photography, but this video helps me remembering my focus. It's been added to my list of essential videos :) All the best!

[@doblejota13]

Por que es lo que he hecho desde que era muy joven. Empecé con una Yashica de óptica fija y con ella aprendí los fundamentos. Mas tarde fue mi trabajo, del que viví hasta mi jubilación y ahora es mi sentido de la vida, no se hacer otra cosa que me guste más, que me divierta más y que me llene más. La Fotografía ha sido mi vida y mientras pueda sostener una cámara lo seguirá siendo. Gracias Adrián por tu página y por todo lo que nos muestras en ella. Ha sido y es, muy importante ,en estos años en los que todos hemos sufrido mas o menos. Deje de fotografiar y estuve hundido mas de un año. Tus fotos y tus comentarios me volvieron a sacar a la calle y seguir con lo que mas me gusta en este mundo: hacer fotografías

[@jamesdearment411]

I liked how Garry Winogrand described why he took photographs. He said “I take pictures to see how things look photographed”.

[@martylevenson7062]

Enjoyed your video! My main motivation for making photographs is to be part of the conversation.

[@neilalmond9354]

Enjoyed Your video very much.Neil

[@scotskinner4350]

I don't know what my "why" is, other than I have to get out with the camera and make photographs.

[@WalkForFreedomOz]

I think it's about enjoying the moment. No matter what your doing.

[@mariocusiti7188]

Hola, hace unos meses que vengo viendo tus videos y lo que mas me gusta es tu lado humano o filosofico que hay en ellos (por supuesto tambien me gustan tus imagenes). Desde ya que me gusta la fotografia aunque la considero un arte bastante "Light" , a pesar de esto que digo me llena de alegria ver imagenes bellas y principalmente las de naturaleza. Como contas en el video yo empece haciendo fotos un poco de casualidad porque soy Alfarero de profesion y me compre mi primer camara porque mis clientes me pedian fotos de mis piezas, la fotografia me llevo a observar con mas atencion todo lo que me rodea, un ejemplo es que a pesar de que ya era bastante grandecito cuando empece no conocia las especies de aves que habia en mi entorno ni sabia reconocerlas, ahora presto mucha mas atencion a sus comportamientos y a sus ciclos vitales, tambien me siento identificado con esto de encontrar lo que nos sorprende diariamente o nos resulta bello en nuestro entorno, casi no tengo posiblilidades de viajar a lugares lejanos y vivo en una zona desertica donde pareciera que no se pueden encontrar mas que piedras e imagenes repetidas sin embargo salgo a caminar con mi camara por el campo en un estado lo mas cercano a la paz mental y siempre (o casi siempre) encuentro algo de naturaleza que me sorprende y me trae alegria y en lo posible trato de captarlo en mis fotos (que por otro lado no es lo mas importante sino disfrutar de la caminata y el momento y algunas pocas veces casi no saco fotos), tambien me pasa eso de emocinarme con lugares u objetos que ya vi mil veces pero que cambian segun la luz del dia o de la epoca del año y que vuelvo a fotografiar reiteradamente. Saludos y gracias por tu sensibilidad

[@RichardOldroyd]

HUummm I suppose my purpose is to take me out of the 9 to 5 and let my head relax for a while. I hear what you say about shoot local, most of my Instagram is shoot in and around my home. Keep up the good work and ill see you in the next one.

[@paulm8157]

Thought-provoking episode. IMO, too many folks seek to robotically reproduce images akin to what’s been done so many times. Purpose can change over time as we mature. Early on, for myself, photography was a documentary process - part of my job. Since I retired, photography has been more about showing the extraordinary in the ordinary, and showing human nature. Recently subscribed - love your content and communication. Publishing captions in two languages, a thoughtful plus.

[@bv42]

Creating for the joy of creating. That's primary for me. Also, pre-Covid, a bit of political photojournalism documenting grassroots activism. A morning walk with camera is a great idea, one that I will try. Thanks!

[@breathestrongcycling3672]

I actually live in a place many think is exotic, I was born in New Zealand...another photographer favourite...now living in the Philippines and for the last 15 yrs have been working so never really got to stop and take a longer look at where I am. Now facing unemployment, far from being concerned, I'm more excited that now I have the time....if not the cash...to really stop and see. The cash will take care of itself, time is more important.

[@tonyhayes9827]

I don't think purpose `evolves'. I think it's always there. It's why we begin. Its `evolution' is just our sight becoming more focused. I lay bricks = I take photos I’m building a church = I find beauty in nature I’m building the house of God = I’m looking for God, the eternal source of all our beauty, freedom, peace, glory and almighty. What else is there? Our mistake is to own it by right. The majesty of nature can put us back in our place and make us realize, all is gift. We watch the sun rise and simply give thanks. When we dump our rubbish in nature, we spit on sacred ground. The sunrise is God's handiwork. The lamp in the snow is God's love.

[@andrewsimpson5436]

Well I,,, I'm one of the millions who take some of the Billions of photos every day that get viewed by one or two people other than me so realistically I'm a waste of space wasting time. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy taking photos and put effort into all of them but as one of the bricklayers it doesn't matter what i think, when someone sees 3 bricklayers they think, there's 3 bricklayers! Good vlog though 🙂

[@bioliv1]

After I got my a7III I feel like God!