What does photography mean to you?

I am starting a response thread on Facebook here with the above question, to which I am posing to all my photographer friends, contacts and acquaintances and those that are involved in the imaging, curatorial and journalism disciplines. We now begin a new year soon, and the flood of images that are being shared on social media and the rest of the internet, no less,  in printed publications, television and commercials continue to saturate our collective minds on a daily basis.

This wild statistic is mind-boggling!

If you printed off the 21.9 billion photos uploaded to Instagram
in a year, it would reach 6,351 kilometres.
That’s a whole lot of selfies!

[Check it out here https://photoworld.com/photos-on-the-web/]

So, in search for more clarity, I would love to learn about your thoughts on photography, to you personally, either a consumer of images, or perhaps as a creator.

What is it about photography that makes you tick, go weak in the knees, perhaps break out in a cold sweat, or just feel chilled. Perhaps it isn’t a tangible thing, like cradling a vintage camera and hearing the moving gears within as you cock its shutter. Could it be the amazing deep blacks from a fine silver gelatin print that moves you to tears, or the heady smell of developer and fixers  fumes wafting through your makeshift darkroom?

Maybe you like to collect photo books and smell the new pages as you sample its contents. You may be into gear fetish, always acquiring new equipment as soon as they hit the stores, or a pixel peeper, demanding to view everything on your giant 25 inch screen at 100%. You could be in love with Photoshop and like to tweak every possible parameter to create your masterpieces in your darkened room, perhaps?

I would also like to know what is the most significant photograph you have ever taken and why.  This does not have to be a masterpiece, a good image, or even a memorable image.  Just an image that has played an important role in your photographic journey, or made an impression to others along the way? Please do share.

I will run this thread for a few months and hope by the end of it, we could have a collection of  interesting writing, photographs and viewpoints to share but I will need your honest involvement and response.

Cheers!

Best wishes for 2016…

Steven