"Anam Ca(me)ra"
Though I have a lot of stuff, particularly books, I really am not a materialistic person. Most of the things that I have I could give away or do without very easily. Over the past couple of years, however, my camera has become the big exception here. If I had to give it up, it would be like losing a piece of my soul. I am passionate about photography and, if I am to be honest, I have to admit that I love my camera. Obviously this is not the same kind of love that one has for a person, but it is the kind of love that if its object were gone, would leave a huge hole resident within me.
How many "non-essential" things do you do everyday? We all have to eat and go to the bathroom each day, but what else do you do every single day? There was a time when I could say that I practiced clarinet every day; those days are long gone. I journal almost every day, but that almost every day is not every day. And when I skip a day, I don't feel guilty about it neither do I find that my day has been lessened in any way. What I do do every single day is tell my husband that I love him and take a photograph. Actually these two things are like potato chips - "Nobody can eat just one." I tell Weber that I love him every chance I get and most days I take way more than one picture. The point here ise that these two things happens every single day without fail. Some people may call this an addiction. I call it passion - in both instances.
It does feel odd to admit that I love an inanimate object. As I think about that, I realize that it is not actually the camera itself that I love, but what and how it encourages me to look and see differently, more intentionally, more creatively. On a very practical level, I see things through my camera lens that physically I cannot see otherwise. That alone is a real gift. But what sustains my love affair with my camera is how it helps me to see beauty in the simplest things, how it asks that I view the world from different perspectives, how it compels me to seek ways to create pictures of emotions that often defy words. Simply stated, taking pictures brings me true joy.
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