Paul Graham — “Photography is Easy, Photography is Difficult” (2009) — Thoughts.
I really enjoyed reading this article, it was short and inspirational from the get go. After reading this I agree with it very much and it has reminded me not to rush into trying to get the image I want, it takes time to find that and you need to be patient because it will come to you.
“You will find it, and it will find you, just start, somehow, anyhow, but: start.” This to me speaks volumes because somedays we have those days when we don’t really have the mindset to go and want to take photos and go out and find those images, somedays we just want to sit inside and think about what we could be doing outside and there is some sort of block, so instead we sit and scroll on Instagram at all the cool and interesting images that in-fact we could just be going out and taking ourselves.
Another point I would like to pick up on about this article is the way Paul Graham talks about the way the world moves and is a constant flow of information and traffic and how you only have that one chance to take note of that one moment but if you don’t then its gone. However thats okay because then there is instantly another moment to capture “Because life is flowing through and around us, rushing onwards and onwards, in every direction.”
There is a paragraph in the article that talks about deciding what to photograph as there are so many different options and how to “make sense of the never ending flow” of possible images. I agree with that as it can be daunting to decide what to photograph and you can end up taking all these images and most of them can be bad or I end up not being happy with them because I have rushed it and not taken my time. This comes back to the point I was talking about earlier about taking your time and just breath it in and experience what is happening for a moment. Paul Graham does say in the next paragraph that you can pick and choose as you please on what photograph to take, “Thats the choice you are spoiled for, but don't let that stop you.” don't be overwhelmed take your time.
