Recently I was asked why it is that I’m passionate about photography. Good question.
I could say the same things you hear photographers all over say. “Capturing the beauty”, “I have a creative eye, “I’m passionate about art and life”. Not that that doesn’t describe how they might feel, I simply can’t put my thoughts on the subject into such few words. So I’m going share a sneak peek into the mind of Kristi.
Being a photographer means more to me than just taking pictures. Or even taking good pictures. It’s first seeing something within the framework of one’s mind, using a specific tool (camera) and having the chance to keep that which was seen, forever. Proving that life took place. That we’re all here living, breathing, and experiencing this life together. As soon as someone else sees that photo, they’ve now connected with you on a human emotional level. It’s capturing (and I dislike to use the word capture, I feel it’s very over used) something and then sending it out to the world for everyone to see. When I share my photographs I share a preview into the mind of who I am and what makes me tick—while letting my subject self-discover their own self-image from a different point of view.
Discovering the Unexpected.
Let me go a little further. I have loved photography since I can remember. I had my first camera, a Polaroid mind you, when I was 9 years old. I took so many pictures that my dad had swept it up and put it in the top of the closet to slow me down a little because the film was so darned expensive. Shoot, it was $10 a box—and there were only 10 pictures to a box of film which made that a very expensive hobby back then. Still, I begged and begged for film and couldn’t wait to just snap away at anything I could. I took pictures of my dogs, my Dad, my stereo and the lawn. Once on a warm summer day, I laid down on the grass on my tummy and took a picture of the sun sparkling through the sprinkler as the water spouted up in the air out of the tiny holes below. It was so shiny and sparkly in the sunshine and I loved it. It didn’t turn out very well though, kind of hard to adjust white balance on a Polaroid. I even took my first self-portrait with my two dogs with my Polaroid. As long as I can remember, I see things differently and when I do, I have to catch it mid-stream so I can share that with others. Also, with having a Polaroid; came the instant gratification of being able to snap the picture, hear the motor push the sheet of film out of the camera and then see all the colors and exposure come to life watching the film develop. It was like candy to a baby in my hands and I practiced as much as I could. If you think about it, a Polaroid in the 70’s and 80’s is what smartphone cameras and digital cameras are to us today, only back then I adored my Polaroid camera and I still have it…30+yrs later.
On my 11th birthday, I graduated up to a Kodak Pocket Instamatic 10 (AKA Kodak 110) with the Magicube Flash. Yes, the Polaroid was bulkier, but I loved it. While I was fretting over giving up the instant gratification of seeing my shot as soon as it came out of the camera, my Dad was a great salesman. I could now take 24 shots for just that tiny roll of film and it came with a wrist strap so I was more mobile. He positioned my new camera as such that I could ride my bike or roller skate while carrying it around with me. Bingo! It worked and the Polaroid stayed in the closet. I burned through a lot of film (not all of it made it to the lab) and it was definitely hard to manipulate how my shots would turn out, but I kept snapping anyway. The photo’s below are proof that I was shooting on the run! LOL.
My love and passion turned to photographing people. My Dad (Mom passed away when I was 8), and immediate family (including my dogs) were my favorite subjects. I caught some great shots of my Dad that I’ll have forever that documents where we were, what we were doing and human emotion. When looking back on them they trigger such a memory that I can hear the sounds, smell the flowers and hear his giggle again. I really learned the value of this when he sat down with me one day when I was 14 and opened up a box of photographs of when he was oversees in the Korean War as well as other parts of his life. My Dad had a camera and did a lot of the photography of his troop and liked having pictures taken of him.
There were photographs of him hanging with the locals, with his unit and bunkmates all joking teasing like they have a prisoner and are playing around.
There was a photo of him being promoted and others of him later when he was on duty writing a guy a ticket for a parking violation when he was a deputy for the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department in the 1950’s. The caption on the back read “Hate to do this to you buddy, but you shouldn’t have been speeding!”… he commented on how irritated that guy was that he received a ticket. He shared what he felt, who was there and what was happening. When you see these photographs you see more than history. There’s so much in there.
The photo above is one that I absolutely treasure of him in our back yard early one evening. The pool contractors he hired had just finished building our new swimming pool and as soon as the hose was shut off and it was filled—he did a happy dance on the pool deck! Rather than grab my Kodak 110, I pulled out my old Polaroid as I had just a few sheets left and I caught it! I didn’t want to take a chance at not showing him what that happy dance looked like. (Okay, I wasn’t so good at going to the lab to process my film. Reluctantly, I admit it) He was so proud of that pool and as he wanted to give me something to cool me off during those hot summers in Yuma, Arizona. Later I moved to a little Fuji 35mm, then a Minolta X700 SLR, then to a Canon EOS Rebel DSLR 8mpx, and I now shoot with a Canon 7D and 5D. The love of my life and husband, Brian shoots with a Nikon. Hmpf. We have a running joke in our family that we have an inner-faith marriage. Cracks me up! All I can say is this. Taking photographs of people is a privilege. When I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to photograph someone, I feel so blessed. It’s a gift to have a few minutes inside their soul, documenting something wonderful. Time stands completely still—and I’m so totally in my zone. Something happens inside me and I start to see this beautiful creative event unfold and with each snap of the shutter it’s another piece of time wonderfully documented. And I know without a doubt that this “something” is beautiful and is going to be discovered when we upload those images on the computer. I get so crazy excited about seeing them right away, I can’t help it. As I sit and go through them with my husband I literally re-live the whole event all over again…all the giggling and the fun. The stories, the tears, the joy, the open hearts and human connection.
Whether it’s a young mother nuzzling the cheek of her sweet baby boy…. A new wife gazing at her new husband…………… A rock star that’s snuggling with a rescued dog to help him find a home……….. A homeless man named Jon that’s happy someone remembered his birthday………. OR…. three adorable children sitting together on a porch…………………… It’s about seizing the moment, locking down the subject in time. Leaving a legacy. Telling a story. Showing where we were, what we were doing that exact moment in history. I have two beautiful sons that I cherish and they didn’t have the opportunity to meet my Dad as sadly he passed away (1989) before they were born. I do however, have the blessing and opportunity to share who he was and things he did so they get to “know” him all because he bought me that darn Polaroid and the photographs he passed down to me. Not only that, if only he could see how technology has changed…his legacy will forever be left behind right here on this blog out for all the world to see! (I love you Dad, thank you!) I love taking photographs and I can’t help it, I fall absolutely in love with each and every one.
I think that answers it Nigel. Fellow Photographers: Check out Zenologue Blog’s Photography Business, SEO and Marketing.
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