What I saw…
Recently, someone asked me if I thought phone photographers were “real” photographers. It was an honest question, not meant to provoke. I paused, not because I was unsure, but because I wanted to give a thoughtful answer.
I’ve noticed that today, almost everyone is called a “photographer.” Billions of people have a camera in their pocket and use it every day. Some even create beautiful images. So what sets them apart from someone like me, who left a twenty-year corporate career to do this full-time?
What really sets a photographer apart isn’t the equipment or even technical skill. It’s the intent behind the photo.
Before I press the shutter button, there’s always a moment, a thought, a question I’m trying to answer, or a feeling I want to capture and explore. I’m not just recording that something exists. I’m making a statement about what I find remarkable and what I want you to notice in what I saw.
Thoreau said it better than I can: “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” He was talking about walking in nature, but it fits photography perfectly. Anyone can look, but not everyone truly sees.
That’s why the “just point and shoot” comment misses the point so completely. It’s not really about pointing or shooting. It’s about everything that happens before: choosing the composition, waiting for the right light, sometimes for hours or even days, and holding back from pressing the shutter until the moment feels right.
Good photographs are created, not just taken.
This reminds me of something writer Annie Dillard said about her work: she didn’t write to record what she already knew, but to discover what she thought. In a similar way, many photographers head out with only a vague idea. The photo they end up with often surprises them and reveals something new about what they were really seeing. The camera doesn’t just capture reality; it captures your relationship with it.
… and what I photographed.
That relationship is what makes it art.
A phone can create art, just like a point-and-shoot camera from fifteen years ago. An expensive, medium-format camera might not. Gear isn’t the key, although some tools help you make certain images. Technical ability and artistic vision aren’t the same, but we often mix them up.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why people get confused. Modern cameras have made it hard to tell the difference between a quick snapshot and a carefully planned photo. A sharp, well-composed phone picture and a thoughtful photograph can look the same as small thumbnails. Noticing the difference takes time, attention, and a special way of seeing. Most people scrolling quickly through tons of images don’t have that time. Sometimes, I don’t either.
But the difference is still real. It comes from everything that happens before you press the shutter.
A photographer is an artist who uses a camera as a tool to create work guided by artistic vision. The goal isn’t just to record, but to interpret.
Anyone can take a photograph, and that’s a good thing; it’s a pleasure open to everyone. But making a photograph is different. It means slowing down, thinking before you click, asking yourself what you want to say, and deciding if this image, frame, light, or moment expresses it. As Ansel Adams put it, “A photograph is not taken, it’s made.“
That’s the real work. You won’t find it in the EXIF data, but you can see it in the image itself.
Related Posts
- Beyond Reality: The Beauty of Photography as Art
- A Great Photograph
- How To See the World Like an Artist
- It Is an Illusion That Photos Are Made With the Camera
- iPhotography
- Why Buying An Expensive Camera Doesn’t (Always) Matter
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