Inspired by Michael Heilemann, I've decided to post a few photos and try to explain why photography actually matters to me. I'm not talking about your run-of-the-mill family/holiday snaps here, but more like the photos I post on my photo site opticalpork.com
This is extremely difficult to explain. Why do I take photos? Why do I go looking for things to photograph? It's not that I feel a great need to document everything or even anything at all.I think it's some kind of escape more than a need to try to express myself through the photographs.
I refuse to call myself an artist, this isn't art in any way. It's just a way for me to create my own reality. I get to chose what is in focus, how I frame things and which elements I want to emphasize or call attention to.
I just spent two hours walking around the Bergen city center with my camera in hand looking for something to photograph. Doing exercises like this makes me appreciate the small details more. I go around looking for that little special thing that can suddenly appear right in front of you just begging to be photographed.
I still feel like I'm invading peoples privacy and being outright rude when photographing them randomly, so I tend to photograph objects rather than people. I might sneak in a photo of someone randomly though, the 70-300 really comes in handy there.
All in all, I'm not a photographer. I'm not an artist. I just like taking photos, and enjoy being able to use my camera in the way I want to. That's all there is to it. It all boils down to one simple thing; I enjoy it.
Feel free to browse around the opticalpork site as well as browse through my Gallery. I enjoy feedback on all my photos, but remember that most of them are taken without a whole lot of reasoning before shooting.
I don't think, I photograph.