What do you think of when you look at an old photograph?

Maybe it reminds you of better times or great moments with loved ones… for me, looking at an old photograph brings back so many memories, emotions, feelings, events, people, places, scents, basically the whole scene is brought back to my mind and played over and over again, but I not only dream and remember this, I am there once again with all those people, scents, feelings… A photograph helps me relive a moment in time… deep enough yet? Just wait 🙂

But do you ever think about how much of an effect a photo is going to have on you in the future? In other words, when you are shooting or making a photograph do you really think about the idea of preserving a memory or stopping time?

Sometimes we do it intuitively… if something funny or interesting happens you take your camera out right away because you know you want to remember that moment.

Sometimes we do it because we know we are going to loose whatever we are photographing… think about those photographers that seek to preserve old buildings or places that are about to be torn down and they photograph them in an effort to remember those places that were significant in some personal way. Take Vivian Maier for instance, she spent basically her entire life documenting different cities, people, and basically the life she lived in the 60s, but none of it would have ever surfaced to the public if John Maloof hadn’t found all these boxes of info. Find out more about this amazing almost lost story right here: http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/history/ If that doesn’t inspire you to make photographs yourself maybe this next person will.

Meet Holly Spring, the most loving and dedicated mother I have come across. Holly portray’s her 4-year-old daughter Violet in the most whimsical manner to show her she can be anything she wants.

                              

Violet was born with Hirschsprung’s Disease and no left hand and after almost loosing her life when she was 2, Holly decided to start taking photos of her daughter in an effort to capture memories. Check it out: http://sfglobe.com/?id=3813&src=share_fb_new_3813 You could never tell this beautiful girl has any problems, until you look closer at her arms, but it doesn’t even matter because out of any bad situation someone can be inspired to photograph, to be passionate about something, and find happiness in something they previously didn’t see.

A photograph requires much more than one glance, you have to truly see it to find the emotion and significance behind it, but without this human need to preserve history and memories we wouldn’t have photographs such as these.

So this week I thought I would post something a bit different. I just wanted to share some beautiful photographs I have come across for the past couple of days. Why am I doing this? Well… spring break is coming and I am so excited to be traveling to a beautiful island with my best friend. So I have been looking through photographs to gain some inspiration and ideas for what to shoot or what to look for when I go to a new place that is so different from where I live.

So I started with wildlife and I came across this article showing motherhood among animals… I just thought it was beautiful, and amazingly captured. I hope I can take some beautiful wildlife shots where I am just there at the right moment to snap that cute animal close to me. Read the article here: http://m.atchuup.com/wild-animals-and-their-youngs/

                      

       

Or just a funny photo… it’s crazy what animals do right?

So what’s next… People!!! People are so interesting, it is just great to travel to an exotic place because there is an entirely different culture, with different customs and traditions. It is just fascinating to think about who will I meet when I’m there…

What inspired me to think about this was this photographer’s project where he captures portraits of people ages 1 to 100 and asks them about their dreams, wishes, or anything fun they would like to tell him. I just thought it was an amazing project to take on, and he executed it so well and managed to capture each and everyone’s personalities in one shot! Keen Heick-Abildhauge photos can be found here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/100-years-project_n_6763534.html?utm_hp_ref=photography

So I guess I will just leave you with the message of take photographs that inspire you, and it doesn’t have to be anything deep, just something that makes you happy…

Be Creative, Be Playful, Be Imaginative, Be Daring

I just wanted to send a shout out to my Photography professor: Benita VanWinkle who has just been featured in the local news with her 30 year long project of photographing vintage movie theaters from around the country. You can watch the video footage here: http://www.wral.com/photographer-captures-vintage-america-through-pictures-/14490816/

Her collection of North Carolina Vintage Movie Theaters are now in display at the High Point Museum. I had the pleasure to be invited to the beautiful reception, but everyone should go!

The reason I wanted to post this was not only to spread the word about my professor, but also to recognize her achievements as a professional photographer as well as an educator. Benita was the first person to teach me photography: Digital Photography class my sophomore year, was definitely a highlight in my life. I would never have discovered that I had a passion, an eye, or any talent for photography. if it wasn’t for her I struggled so much the first couple of months trying to understand how to make a DSLR work… my favorite phrase was: “It won’t click!!! I’m clicking, and it’s not clicking.” I would get so frustrated with the technology that I almost quit the class halfway through. I talked to Benita about it and she encourage me to stay and told me that if I hated photography by the end of class then at least I could say I gave it my best shot. A week later, all of a sudden all the different settings made sense to me while on a photo field trip with some friends. Fast forward 2 years, and I have now won a national photo contest, started my own freelance photography business, and even gotten a job as a photographer for the school newspaper. And to think that I almost quit because I was struggling. That’s something that I like to look back on and remember whenever I think of quitting something I previously committed to.

All I have to say now is… thanks Benita for bearing with me and helping me grow as a skilled photographer and just as a person in general. Congratulations on your own success.