“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
           -Ansel Adams

Photography has been a part of my life ever since the day I bought a DSLR just for my month-long trip to America, four years ago. It has become my form of self-expression and a way to let people get a glimpse of my world. After all, perspectives come in millions and mine is just one out of that million. Hand ten photographers their cameras and they will give you ten different photographs of the same subject.

So how and why do photographers see the world differently?

1. We see the beauty in ordinary, everyday things.
   A lonely lotus flower being drenched under the rain. A book left on a dusty shelf. Empty canisters by the corner of a kitchen counter. Whatever that most people may overlook, photographers will be able to find simple beauty in them. It is our way to “stop and smell the flowers”. We just appreciate the little details of life because we understand that the little things do matter too.

2. We are able to stop time.
   A moment will forever be captured in a still image. It is a physical form of a memory. The things and people in a photograph may change in reality, but the memory captured will forever remain. Some of us are probably just really sentimental creatures.

3. We are visual story tellers.
   “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This idiom never gets old, does it? Photographers, like photojournalists, step out of their comfort zone to document people’s lives and the events surrounding them. They publish their images for the news and let those images tell the stories without any words needed. The experiences these photojournalists go through help to open their minds a little more each time. They build empathy, for themselves as well as for their viewers.

On the other hand, photographs can also speak more about the photographer than the subject itself. It all comes back down to what I’ve mentioned earlier – perspectives. There is always a thought process behind every photograph. We have different styles of photography, and even different ideas about photography. These unique perspectives will ultimately be translated into the images that we produce, thus, telling a story about ourselves and how we want people to see the world from our point of view as well.

Well, if my words are not enough to move people, I hope my photographs will do the job someday.