I love people more than anything; More than pets, politics, religion, sport, travel, hobbies, cooking, food, scenic landscapes, apologetics… and even more than satisfying my own hormonal urges!
Where have I learned photography?
This question reminds me of something that is in line with my answer:
When I was a kid, a 5-year-old, I clearly remember the place and the setting I was in, among 60 odd pupils who were mostly learning by repeating aloud what my teacher was trying to etch into our minds at her private tuition class. I was learning pretty basic stuff (looking back now.. Lop, something like nursery rhymes or basic mathematics, when my mum came to check with the teacher on how I am faring at my studies & behaviour. The first thing, or may in fact the only thing I heard or did manage to remember is her saying: “Your son if he finds just a minute of free time, he keeps on observing people”… That, I believe is the key to my photography style.
As for the passion, it came out of my uncontainable love for people that felt/feel from God, who is the source is love, and the very personification and definition of love.
As for technical knowledge, I got another story… But it may also be a bit cryptic in its answer: Although our family had a semi-auto loading point-n-shoot film camera that we only used when we would go on holidays, the real taste of a camera happened not more than a decade ago, when I went to a theme-based house party @ Mr.lsaac’s; He took a photo of me that I was so impressed about the way I look, that I thought, if only, I could get my hands on a DSLR camera like that myself, I can have all the photos I want of myself. A little before the selfie trend started…haha. Within a month, I pooled up some money to buy my first DSLR Nikon D90. Little did I know then, that I’ll be taking other’s photos to mine, in a 10k to 1 ratio. The people I took photos of at the church I was attending those days and the professional photographers I met at festivals, I began to go to 2 years down the line, encouraged to believe that I do in fact “see” people and capture the spirit of the event in chronological order. They said I’ve “an eye for it”… That came as a relief after I have tried to play guitar for a few years then and understanding that I didn’t have “an ear for it”. Albeit, if I still have to pick out my source of the technical knowhow, I’d start with my physics lessons/teachers from my 8th grade who taught about the concepts of concave, convex lenses, focal points, amplitude, light, color combinations. A few years later I understood what it means by: “Light reveals, Shadow gives shape“. A bit later, I came across the concepts of Rule of Thirds, Rule of Diagonals, Leading lines, Symmetry, Role of Triangles, Breaking Patterns, Minimalism, Anchoring… Via Facebook pages, YouTube videos, Google forums, magazines.
The real add-on to my style happened when a spirituality influenced psychological shift happened when started reading The Scriptures extensively while I was not my shift work of working in a telemarketing role where I was talking to random 200 strangers a day, having a sensible conversation with as many as possible, as I myself am not convinced about what I was asked to sell. (sure enough, I made 4 sales in 3 months, yes, commission based). I took up that role in order to work my way into a desk job as I had severely injured my back (L3, L4, L5) while working in a supermarket, night filling. I basically, discovered the ease and thrill of talking to strangers.
But all these skills, knowledge, and passion would have gone to waste without being as Tall as 181 cm, Having a 20/20 Vision, Strong Fingers, be able to walk for 14 hours at a stretch, carry double sling cameras off my strength regained back.
The credit… If any.. Goes entirely to the One who designed me the way, I am… And has given me these skills, resources to travel and spend, personality to connect and charm, opportunities to experience and relate, sense of purpose to be constantly motivated by…
I do mean it, when I say, “I’m grateful to be designed this way!” 🙂
~John
