Why Do You Enter A New Business? Or, Start Something New?
Why Do You Enter A New Business?
Or, Start Something New?
When you start something, go into a new business, or create a hobby, it is advisable to answer one question. Why? Why have you entered this new field or begun this new activity?
Don’t expect to have a perfect answer right off the bat. When you begin something new, you often have a vague idea of the underlying rationale. The underlying motivation crystalizes if you enjoy and see value in your endeavors.
My Initial Motivation
Why did I start photography? I started photography to clean my life and change my lifestyle. It is simple. My motivation stemmed from disgust at my lifestyle and the vague notion that I possessed some creative skills.
I did not have money those days, so I coaxed my father to fund my first camera – my Olympus OM-2n. Since I was too poor to travel, I started with black & white film, shooting the streets of Bombay. Since then, politicians have renamed the city. Its new name is Mumbai, but I continue to call it Bombay.
My motivation was negative, and I always confessed to this strange behavior. The next question I ask myself is: “Why do I continue with photography?” My motivation has waxed and waned. I have explored landscape, architectural, and portrait photography. In the end, I returned to “street and travel” photography.
Photography is a complex business, and I confess I have not made money (yet) with my photography. Why do I stay in this field?
Why Do I Continue With Photography?
The first reason is that I love it and enjoy it. If I did not, I would not pick up my camera.
Next, as I continue to explore photography, I find myself pushing my boundaries. I shot in a straight, journalistic style when I started this journey. Eternal laboratories developed my images, and I had no control over the result. Only when I was in MBA College did I gain access to a darkroom, which opened up a wide vista of creativity.
The darkroom and my fledgling skills in developing my images gave new meaning to Ansel Adams’s statement: “You don’t take a photograph; you make it.”
I was a late convert to Photoshop. Sometimes I am weary of Photoshop perfection, but the tool has given me additional power to express my original intent.
For me, a photograph is a visual statement. When I started photography, I used to go out and shoot without an end in mind. These days, I start with a concept and work with a story in mind.
I perceive street photography as a medium for capturing the stories of people and weaving them into a theme linked with the social issues of the day. Photography cannot exist in a vacuum. If photography is an exercise in technical perfection, then it is empty. In this case, photography will lose its soul.
We walk on a path that weaves through the woods. Sometimes, we stop and listen to the wind in the trees, sit with our backs to the trunk, and allow the shade to comfort us. If we allow ourselves these luxuries and slow down, our senses will spring to life, and our work will become rich.
In the end, this is the set of reasons I photograph and why I am a photographer.
