Photography Is A Self-Expression
About photography.
Since my last meeting with Dolorès Marat, a French renowned photographer. I was worried about my photographic direction. When I shared with her some of my latest pictures, she told me that nothing happened to her. This was to “schools”. I knew that it was hard to ear, but it was true: two years of learning everything at school. I was lost, alone with my mind.
A break of two months after, my wife and I planned a backpack trip to Asia to celebrate our graduation photography. It was a rewarding break before a continuous hardworking lifestyle. For this trip, I planned to take some pictures as evidence. I would apply this mind-boggling question Dolorès told me months ago: “Why do I take photographs?”. This Mojo on my side, I decided to take my time to answer, focusing on “what feelings made me take a shot?” as an introspective process. Going easy.
Asia.
We traveled to Thailand, Malaysia, and finally ended up in Vietnam. This region of the globe allows us to travel for 3 months through different cities and cultures.I took a lot of pictures with different cameras, tried many rolls of film, and focused on my emotions. This kind of confidence lets me try every kind of framing, composition and subject, abandoned behind the rules we used at school.
After developing several rolls (for less than 5$ each!), I think I began to realize that my favorite pictures reflect what I really am inside. It is about personal sensibility. And so, the way I captured a moment, according to my emotions and thoughts. We went back home weeks after. This trip learned me that I’m not completely sure of: “What I want to photograph?” but I understand that I need to listen my emotions and what I truly feel through the viewfinder to capture the real essence of the seen.
It is all about intention and purpose.
Ernst Haas said
“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
You might notice that my frames are pretty dark at this point. They are sometimes. I wanted to capture people who were lost in their thoughts, somewhere during a moody bad time… Waiting for better days.
Thank you to Dolorès Marat for offering me her last book, and sharing her fantastic life.