on taking photos

today as i waited at starbucks for a friend i studied the fountain outside... it's green in color and lit at night. the lights were on then, giving it a surreal look. immediately my thoughts went back to a's account of his cinematographer in india. about how he could take a picture of the most mundane thing in the world and make it look artistic, beautiful. i realized that my love for taking pictures came from the same desire... to capture the beautiful aspects in all that i see - anything at all. obvious things like a silhouette in the sunset, the colors of leaves in the fall, or the smiling face of a child, and the not so obvious - such as buildings made of concrete, an 'in n out' board, or a lamp-post. it is one of my firmest beliefs that there is beauty in everything in the world, everything that we are surrounded by, that our five(/six?) senses can perceive. and as the eyes chance upon these elements of beauty, there is a burning desire to find a means to express that beauty. taking photos is one.

this felt like a revelation that i thought i should pen. perhaps it was merely a revelation about myself to myself... i understand now where my love for photography comes from, and thus it becomes a more fundamental part of me.