I think I can finally say it, "I'm a photographer." It has taken me a while to say that. I've seen myself as a person who takes pictures, enjoys taking pictures and loves to share his pictures. Now I think I've cross the line from a person who likes to take pictures to a photographer.
I say this not because of the quality of my photographs, or because I'm quitting my job to make a living at photography (oh, please, no!), but because of the reason I take photographs.
For more than a year, Praying With the Eyes has help define my photography. In preparation for a photography workshop this past January 11, I was able to state my core value of photography which defines why I take pictures.
I am a creedal photographer. This is my core value. It is this core value that makes me a photographer.
1) I believe in God as the CREATOR
It doesn't matter what I'm shooting with my camera, I believe that the objects of my photos have their roots in God. We human creatures might have corrupted what God has created, and sometimes that corruption makes it into my photos, yet I believe that God has called all of this beauty into existence. It didn't happen by chance. It happened by design. I try to capture this three dimensional belief in a two dimensional world so that anyone looking at my pics sees the hand of the Artist.
2) I believe in God as the REDEEMER
As mentioned above, we human beings have done a pretty good job of messing up God's creation, yet our God is a God of redemption. He nails our sin to a cross, our abuse of the authority he gave us at creation. Stories of redemption are all around us and they reflect what God declares in his Word. A beautiful sunset, a child playing, even a family standing behind a casket, are stories of redemption and mercy when seen through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
3) I believe in God as the SANCTIFIER
You've got to love the breath of God's Spirit. Without this breath we'd never know God as the Creator or Redeemer. I pray that the breath of the Holy Spirit is the inspiration behind the photographs I take. Pictures are meant to have life. And the life we share as God's people comes from the Holy Spirit. I pray that through the Holy Spirit there is a touch of the sacred that passes through the aperture of my camera and burns itself on my sensor.
This core value of being a creedal photographer is not the same thing as my vision as a photographer. That's another discussion for another time. However, having come to this realization that the reason I take pictures is to reflect the person of God has helped me acknowledge that I'm a photographer.
With this gift comes an amazing amount of responsibility. It's not about the quality of the photographs. It's about what they communicate.
More than anything, I hope you see Jesus in my photography.
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