What do you want to capture
I am reading How I Take Photographs by Daido Moriyama, and he says something that I myself am not sure how to answer.
Emphasis mine:
I see so many young people—I guess they’re photography students—with cameras in their hands, walking about in the streets. Well, that’s great—but if they’re just taking photographs in a random way, I don’t think they’re going to grasp the most important point, which is that you’ve got to have an understanding of what it is you’re doing, what you want to capture.
He then advises choosing a subject, observing it closely, giving it undivided attention, and only after, taking a lot of shots.
He adds:
If you can’t see what’s in front of you, and have no idea of what you want, how do you expect to be able to understand anything about photography?
These questions are difficult for me, as I am similar to those students with cameras, walking around without any particular subject in mind and only taking the shots that stand out for me. Mine is not a state of searching or deliberate looking. But I am not completely oblivious to what I shoot either.
Maybe the next step for me is to focus on subjects I am interested in and try to bring a sense of search into my everyday walks.
