BY ERICA GUSTAFSON, OPINION EDITOR
What is one thing that millions of people in this world don’t realize they have with them? Once you realize what it is, it seems simple. It’s a camera.
Most people who carry a cell phone on them also have a camera embedded in their device. We have gotten to the point in modern technology that most people don’t think about the fact that they are always carrying a camera around with them. They just have a phone that serves as a camera.
I am not one of these people. Although my phone has a camera function that I use frequently, I still resort back to using my Canon digital camera that I got when I was a teenager.
To me, there has always been something special about using a camera to take photos of any and everything I see. It is almost hard to explain the feeling I get each time I pick it up to go for a walk, a family event, or just in my home.
However, in all of our modern-day technology and fast-paced attitudes, digital cameras are going out of style. People tend to avoid using or purchasing them anymore because of their phones. It is understandable because phones are more accessible, and we use them consistently throughout the day.
No matter what route you take – whether it’s a digital camera or the cell phone in your pocket – photographs will never go out of style.
Photography is one of the things on this planet that can be understood cross-culturally and universally. People can look at the scenery, facial expressions, actions, and other aspects of a photograph to partially understand what it is trying to say or show.
A 2017 article by Olivier Laurent in the New York Times magazine talks with photographers and editors on their views into the importance of photography.
Sarah Leen, the Director of Photography at National Geographic, spoke about it in a way that really resonates with how photography is far from being time-bound in history.
She says, “Photography can defeat time. Images can keep the memory of a loved one alive, hold a moment in history for future generations, be a witness to tragedy or joy. They can also change behavior, stimulate understanding and create a sense of urgency that will move people to action. Photography is the universal language that speaks to the heart.”
MaryAnne Golon, the Director of Photography at the Washington Post, contributed more to the importance of photography and photojournalism by mentioning how photography exposes the world in a way that words cannot.
Golon states, “I believe in light. Photography is light. That light is often shined into the darkest of places by the world’s bravest and most talented photojournalists.”
Photography is an important aspect of life, even if people don’t really think of it that way. Photographs allow us to look back at the captured moments in our lives. They help us remember how we felt, where we were, and who were the people that stayed around us.
Though technology will always change as generations pass over Earth, photographs are a small momentum of remembering our lives and living on forever.
