Photography - A Way of Seeing

Sitting here in my office looking at my walls I can see nothing but empty nails and picture hangers all over the place.  Why empty?  Well, because the Capital City Camera Club is having a print exhibit and I took down all of my prints and hung them out at the exhibit. 

These bare walls make me realize just how much my art pervades my life and, by way of metaphor, how empty my life would be without my art.  Although photography can be, for some people, just a way of documenting the events that occur in their lives, for some, like myself, it's a way of capturing the comic, the unusual and the beautiful things that they see on a daily basis and putting them on display for others to see. To me, photography is not just an expression of what we see but also of how we see it.

 Today life can be unbelievably busy.  Everyone has responsibilities to their families, their  employers, their churches, their homes and the many miniscule things that make up their daily lives but there are those of us who, added onto those responsibilities, also yearn to see the world through a lens and to turn what we see into something that others can enjoy.  

As I said before, photography can be nothing more than just a way to document what goes on in front of you but for most of us in the Capital City Camera Club, whether it's a hobby or a profession, it's also a passion.  A passion that we indulge by competing against each other while at the same time teaching each other what we know.  A passion that we share by going in large or small groups on field trips and safaris for the express purpose of taking photographs to share with others.  In the process we are creating friendships based on shared interests and we are creating images for ourselves and to share with others. 

 Our spare time is counted in how we spend it.  For some of us, there can be no better way to spend it than to capture our vision of the world either on film or digital media.  For those of you who have joined the Capital City Camera Club you have seen how networking with other photographers can expand your photographic horizons.  For those considering joining, you won't be disappointed. 

-   Chuck Rice, President