Please dont flame me on this one, I tought of that when I was 15...
I tought that since I didnt have any talent for painting, music, or any other art form for that matter... that photography was in fact a technical art form... that it didnt require any particular talent besides for technologies (at that time digital photography was around the corner, and I "knew" it, but most photographers didnt think so...). I tought, hey its not like you need to paint anything, just hit the trigger and you have a nice photography!
I changed my mind about it... I still like it but I've got everything to learn...
I know now that at the time I was looking for some way to express myself, I came from a family of hard working immigrants that didnt have art as a preocupation, its wasent down to earth enough (and it still isnt). I felt that (like someone posted above), it was a way to capture a nano second in time! You could just seize a feeling into matter!
But I dont quite agree with it being a way to represent truth... what truth? The one you want people to see? (fashion photography?). The one that needs to be shown? (photo journalism?). The one that's just obvious? I could represent realism, but with todays possibilities (photoshop and the like...), truth is just some kind of photography.
I guess that's the beauty of it, it can be personnal art form, but common to eveyone (since its very accessible nowadays).