Why do I photograph?

1. Through a lens, I can capture light. Photographs are something that I neither take nor make nor snap nor shoot. It is the job of a huntsman with the end goal of an artist: you survey the subject, approach it, frame the photo, reframe the photo, rereframe the photo, check the focus, check the f-stop, check the shutterspeed, and finally when everything is just how you want it, you breathe and capture it. With a button you convert the scene into a string of bits that is saved to a little tiny chip buried in your hands. A few rays are stored away on a bit of silicon, to be released again through a screen or through ink.

2. The ritual of photography is a worship of nature. Photography reaffirms my belief in order. When I capture the refractions of a setting sun through a dragonfly's wings, the world disappears and I step back in awe. The image in one's mind can never be perfectly captured, but it is the attempt that validates the idol's worth. And so a photographer is regularly bows to his subject because it is greater than anything he can render. The real joy in this is being able to share the beauty you see with others.

3. A camera records the still images of history. Photojournalism empowers an individual. With a camera, one can become an active agent in documenting the human story. Photos can and have shaped the course of events in our time, informing the public of indisputable truth.

4. Photography, for me, is a self-made skill. It is one of the few things in my life that I have discovered and cultivated without a teacher. My eye has become critical and objective out of necessity, and while I like to get feedback, I know that I am my harshest critic. Photography reminds me of what I am capable of when I am patient and motivated.

5. Holding a camera brings me inner peace. A lens is a set of blinders permitting my mind to focus on only one thing. The rest of the world falls away for a moment, and when that shutter clicks, the absolute blackness gives me a moment to contemplate the image I just saw.