Photographing People

Memorialization

My journey with a camera began well before my first casual photo outing in college. I may have even received my own point-and-shoot camera in middle school – because some of my first photo files go back that far. But, I know for sure by the time I was in the middle of my high school career, I always had my camera – documenting events. I would take it to graduations, to band camps, to conferences, to class trips. I was just trying to capture what I was seeing and experiencing. I was trying to capture a memory…in other words to memorialize. I think I did this as a way to simply hold on – to have these moments forever.

Not shared on my site, I have taken tons of family photos. After high school there was a bit of a lull in my capturing of the people around me, but since I have gotten my Fujifilm camera, I have gotten back into capturing moments and memories of my people. A new addition has been to do portrait sessions with some family members. I think candid captures may still be my favorite, however.

Comparing my now to my then- I think the aim might truly be the same – to hold on.

When I point my camera at a person or group – I want to capture their truth, the beauty of them, the moment and/or event. Whether it is their joy or contemplation, melancholy or ecstasy, I want to capture and preserve.

That is what it means to memorialize through photography to me – to capture and to preserve, to hold onto their truth. I pray I have done that and can continue to do that, respectfully, for the people that I love – that every image can build the memorial that I know they deserve. I am not sure I knew this as my desire way back in middle school, but there seems no denying it now – and I will accept that responsibility, humbly and respectfully.