why are you interested in photography??

[velvet4269]

It's cheaper than therapy, and I get more out of it

On a serious side, though, I'm not sure what it is that draws me to it - but it definitely makes me slow down and actually see the world, rather than just look at it. I'd have never noticed a caterpillar munching on a flower before, never noticed how the light hits that leaf juuuuuust right, or how those colors just seem to pop!

[Palladius]

Tough to say really... I think it's a combination of things: A love of machines and gadgets, a love of physics and optics, and a desire to record things I see that I think are beautiful. My dad had an old film SLR in the bottom of his wardrobe when I was young that I'd take out and fiddle with, finding out how it worked. Every so often, I'd put film in it and try to take photos but they always came out horribly... I think the lens was shot.

Another factor is that it's the only thing I've ever been even remotely creative at.. it's the only thing I can do that is even nearly beautiful or artistic. Although I often feel like a fraud on that front... sometimes I get shots that are quite nice, but they're invariably due to a fairly rigid application of logic, rules and principles. Even my creativity is fundamentally 'left-brained'.


Mr Guy,

I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but you may be right about being diagnosed with a condition... what you describe sounds a bit like autism, probably autistic spectrum disorder. I'm certainly not an expert, and you should take my comments with a barrel-load of salt, but I've worked with a couple of kids with ASD and recognise a few traits, some of which I have myself, although it's very mild in my case.

[monkeyfinger]

Great question.

I can't remember a time when I didn't have a camera. Even as a tiny lad, I had a 110 camera that was shaped like (I think) a panda, and I've loved it ever since.

I got really into drawing as a young teenager, and spent more time with a pencil than a camera, but somewhere along the line my skill at drawing just faded. Then I got really into making films, and would take the opportunity to have a go on any camcorder that I saw, and so I decided to study Media at college. Once again I got quickly bored, and so enrolled on an evening class in Photography, just for something to do that I knew I liked. In the end I spent more time on an evening course than I did on a full time Media course, and I realised that photography was the best.

Then time came to apply for university, and a photography course was the only option for me. I was lucky enough to get in to a fairly prestigious course, and I just went crazy. Being exposed to all of these great photographers, in books and in person, just meant I could devote all of my time to it. I spent 14 hours a day either shooting or in a darkroom, and loved it. But by the end of the course I was a bit burnt out, so I got a regular office job, and just kept the photos for me. The kind of photography I like is not very commercial, so I just have to keep running my portfolio all over the place trying to get exhibitions, and publishing books through Blurb.