From my perspective there's no such thing as capturing a perfect moment, but there's always the possibility that I haven't had enough of them yet.
The possibility that with a few more, I could capture one on camera. However, there are many opportunities to capture a moment if not a perfect one. If you can capture something more along the lines of a feeling or emotion in a photo, then I think you've succeeded where 90% of "Photographers" have failed. The concept of "a perfect moment" that we can contain is something that I struggle to believe a photo can capture. The reason I think that, is because those kinds of unique moments are lived.
A photograph is not a living thing, but a memory is.
Only those living in a present or past moment really know what it was like. The photo is to share a taste of that feeling with another. Photos are taken as a reminder of what it was like the day we captured them, but the emotions we get from looking at a photo will never compare to what we feel when looking another person in the eye.
To see and hear them thinking before you. Listening to their voice or the wind blowing past you both. Feeling their company and presence in your life. These are the words that go past the first thousand we claim pictures are worth. The words that create memories in the minds of those who remember.
I take photos casually, but what I'm not casual about is what I take photos of. There are these moments in our day to day life that we take for granted and those are the things that I try to appreciate. It could be as simple as an insect on a leaf or a flower showing off in the sunlight. I don't want to miss these things while attempting to make others aware of them. When I take a photo and share it with others, it's first and foremost taken for myself.
Like all creative things, if it doesn't bring joy to you before others, then the joy for others can never be more than generalized. We as people can feel the passion of another human being through the art that they create. Yet sadly, we never experience it as fully as the person who produced it.
For ourselves, anything we photograph is valid so long as it's done with the intention of telling our truth.
Often times when I take a photo of something, it's because it means something to me. We all take pictures of things for different reasons like what we're doing or eating, something amazing we're witnessing, someone close to us, someone we don't know, a piece of nature, a piece of home, a something that speaks to us, a pet, a mentor, an achievement.
Anything that we find to be worth sharing.
Even today, as we often share too much, these little moments are pieces of who we are or who we want to be. This sharing can be a conscious or unconscious expression of our identities, and just as easily as that, it can also be the thing we hide behind. In a way, our own anti-truth.
I often find that in these perfect moments, I regularly forget to take a picture. Do I wish that I had attempted to capture a piece of them? Of course, but the lasting memory of a perfect moment is something that you never need a photo for. These are the memories we are supposed to just remember and hang on to and we just do because they mean the most to us.
Photos can be a fantastic reminder of good times, but not essential one.
