A love letter to photography 📸

Photo by author.

Exiting the coffee shop, we strolled along the river that runs parallel with the streets. The scents of freshly brewed coffee mingled with the aroma of dishes being prepared, lingering in the air. The chatter of people filled the atmosphere. Laughter and conversation floated around the gentle breeze, with the soft hum of motor engines and distant car sounds.

You noticed my frequent pauses while waiting for me to snap the last picture with my phone. “I see you take a lot of photos,” you said with a smile, assuring me that you made your observation without any judgment.

“What do you do with it?” you asked.

I smiled, acknowledging the questions. It was not my first time receiving it. We continued to walk. My head quickly scanned photos from memory;

• thousands of pictures of sunsets and sunrises
• colorfully decorated foods on minimalist plates
• various plants lying on the wet floor
• collection of spirited-away miniatures standing on my bookshelves
• numerous selfies of myself, friends, and family together

“Nothing,” I said.

Lately, I’ve been finding more joy in simply experiencing the moments and savoring the beauty through taking pictures. It’s almost like a form of mindfulness for me. When I frame a scene and press shoot, I’m totally focusing on the details and the emotions it evokes at that moment.

Although I would like to admit that these photos will end up hidden away in the corner of the digital space, collecting dust somewhere. Each photo, no matter how pointless, mundane, and uninteresting it might appear to someone else — is a split second of celebration of what is going on in the world, my life, that moment in time, and all the history, biography, and chemistry that make it possible for me to appreciate what it is that I am celebrating.

Photo by author — The river in front of the coffee shop.

In that shared moment by the riverside, I realized that it was okay not to have grand plans for every photo I took. Sometimes, the act of capturing a moment was enough, and the memories I held in my heart were more precious than any physical representation of them.

And so, we walked on, side by side, enjoying the peacefulness of the river and the beauty of the sunset, cherishing each moment for what it was — a gift to be cherished, whether captured in a photograph or treasured in our hearts.

Love,

Sereyroth P.