What motivates my photography?

Image: Copyright Ben Haylock.

Randal Leeb-du Toit asked

quick poll: what do you do with your photos

I replied

take them, share them, Flickr them. No retouching as I have zero skills. I collect fine art photos and look at them every day.

That’s simplifying things down to 140 characters or less.

Rand followed up

what motivates each of the 3 actions – take, share, Flickr…

Had to stop and think about that.

Image: Copyright Ben Haylock.

Take.

I take to reinforce memories, not to create them. I don’t live the event through the viewfinder, I live in the event with the viewfinder. Kress and Van Leeuwen would probably disagree. Baudrillard would have laughed.

Share.

I love to share the image, and the story that goes with it, with others: usually friends and family. Nearly everyone says that, but it’s not a motivation per se. My motivation to share is to learn more about the art of photography by doing, then sharing, then listening.

Flickr.

Honestly, I have tried many, many image sharing platforms in the last 10+ years. Flickr is the best fit for me. So, what’s the motivation to Flickr? Again, it’s to share and to learn. I have a few snapshots in Lachlan Hardy’s awesome group for all our amateur chef-fests. I put images up so my father, living in a very, very remote location can see his granddaughter’s experiences.

And Flickring is fun. Just honest to goodness eyecandy fun.