I have been working on some thoughts about “The Why”. What is a why and what makes it so important to me? I believe that I have always known “why” I do or do not do certain things, or why I love the things I love. But after mentoring this one particular photographer, I started to understand why I believed in ” the why”. It turns out that it is not about the why, but about “my why” or YOUR “why”. To love what you or I do, I believe it is imperative to understand the “whys”.

It was in the middle of our first discussion about “Why do you want to be a photographer?” that brought it all home for me. I have been in the business of photography for 25 years, and I have always loved it! (You better love what you do if you do it for 20+ years…. or 5+ years even) But it was just a few months ago that I realized it was not just loving the profession or the art of photography. No, it was my “why” that continued to drive me to do photography for so many years! You can love a song, a lyric. You can love the way someone pronounces a word or a certain language. So doing something that you love is a rather silly reply to anything you do for a decade or longer. It is the WHY that drives us to be the best we can be. It is the WHY that makes us want to do the thing we love to do.

So, the screenshot I have posted here is just one of my WHYs for doing photography. I posted this image on Facebook 14 years ago I guess. And just the other day the mother of the gentleman in the photo was moved enough to tag me in her reply as it showed up in her FB memories. 14 years ago. 14 years ago and the image still makes an impression. Wonderfully enough the two in this photo have had several wonderful children, and I have also been lucky enough to capture more great memories for them. 14 years later!

My why, for doing this photography thing, is not due to my love of the medium. I love the smell of fixer and developer, the sound of a mechanical shutter, and the weight of a large format camera. I love holding fiber-based prints in my hands and when one of my subjects holds an album designed just for them. I do love to talk gear and to talk to other photographers. That is still not a reason to do photography for 25 years. It is all about the WHY. My why is connection. My why is giving to future generations.

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One of my whys

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