By Lilli Heintz
Snap, click, flash. When you read these words what do you think of? Do you think of the sound a KitKat makes? The sound a pen makes? The bright flash from the lightning outside your window? When I read these words something else runs through my mind. A powerful tool that is used to document time, to remember a special moment, to tell an unspoken story. When I read these words, the best thing comes to my mind. Photography.
In this digital world, sight is everything. Seeing what others are doing in their day-to-day life and how it is all shared through a single picture or video reveals what powerful tools we have at arm’s reach. We can use these in any way possible. When cameras were first brought to life, only the best of the best could get them. It was such a limited thing that it was an honor to use one. As time goes on now we use a camera and look at images daily with social media. Is it still an honor for our photo to be taken?
Digital photography has come a long way and we can do basically anything with it. We can edit our surroundings or the colors to make how we want the world to look. Digital cameras have made it easy to see every single detail of a photo, the cleanness of a photo and how lighting can make or break the outcome. The beauty of the crisp look and detail is what draws the eye to the viewers. Most people prefer the digital photography because it is a simple thing. We point our phone or lenses and can capture the moments as they come and can re-create a moment if we do not like how the picture ended up looking.
Digital photography is such a powerful tool and it has changed how I looked at the world. However, I have recently fallen in love with the way film photography works. The thought of having one shot to make everything perfect or to just live in the moment is captivating. The way the camera feels and sounds after you take the picture is music to my ears. I love the excitement of waiting to see the pictures after getting the film developed and sometimes not remembering that you even took. The grain and the imperfection of how the images turn out is so raw and simple. Even editing the final print can ruin it. The simplicity and rawness that comes from film photography is scary yet thrilling at the same time.
Living through a photo and seeing what the photographer saw is what people are most interested in. An unspoken story is told with one single snap of the camera. Every moment in photography is a snippet of time captured as it passes by.
