Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
Whether it’s through an app or simply through your camera, everyone takes pictures on their phone. Pictures are snapped constantly with a simple touch of a button. Our phones are used to take quick snapshots of homework, 0.5 photos of friends and scenic views at the top of a mountain. The iPhone camera is used by everyone, everywhere, all the time. Many people swear by it — I used to. But now that I learned how to take photographs with a “real” camera, I’ll never go back to that touchscreen shutter again.
Over the last four months, I have been learning how to use a camera outside of my phone. It’s complicated and sometimes frustrating, but throughout this learning process, I have discovered how to look around my world to find the perfect composition, lighting and moment.
Throughout this process, I have learned to look at my work through an entirely different lens.
I look for moments that cannot be replicated, lighting that hits the grass just right or angles that are outside the box. I’ve learned to stop and look and wonder; I’ve begun to think about what around me I can photograph to say a thousand words or take a snapshot of my life to cherish forever.
Since I began taking photographs with a camera, I have stopped myself in moments I previously would have simply moved on from. I have stopped mid-hike to take a photo of how the sunrise was hitting the trees just right or the reflection of the mountain on a glass-still lake. I have stopped in the middle of the crowd to capture the life billowing out in front of me. I have gotten on the ground to get eye level with a stray cat in the middle of a public sidewalk.
All of these moments I would have passed by — and not stopped to appreciate — had I not learned to look through life through the perspective of a photographer. Learning how to be a photographer has allowed me to appreciate the world and no longer live in a bubble but rather to look into others.
Photography has been a revolutionary force — not just for my own personal exploration, but also for movements across history and many different aspects of life. I have learned the most about the world through visuals; photographs from WWII allow us to look into the lives of those at war, and photographs of other cultures across the globe allow us to appreciate their colors and vibrance.
Learning never stops at simply reading. Without these photographs to encapsulate the history we make, the stories we pass on to younger generations would be lost to retellings with words alone.
In short, I believe learning the art of photography is life-changing. Not to say iPhone photographs can’t be life-changing, but disconnecting from a phone screen to use a lens has made a huge difference in the way I approach photography.
I will continue to stop in my tracks to take a moment in, take a deep breath and squeeze the shutter. I’ve learned to live slowly and breathe in these moments, not huffing and puffing my way through my day. I’ve appreciated the photographs of history and continue to stop and analyze life captured from hundreds of years ago.
Coming from a writer, there is only one thing more important than words: photographs.
