I read something the other day, that I feel is worth mentioning here. It was in an over-sized photobook titled Magnum Degrees by Michael Ignatieff, speculating on what might drive photographers.

“[…] the intense conviction that the world needs to be photographed if it is to be understood; that the medium exists to make us look again. To see the world with fresh eyes, in all it’s astounding complexity."

I couldn’t have said it any better myself. 

Photography has taught me to observe, to listen, to read, to understand, to question, to connect, to feel. By practicing photography I can now tell stories and evoke feelings in other humans, without the use of words or the need to speak each other’s languages. Photography serves as our connecting mother tongue. 

I feel so much gratitude and loyalty towards this medium, that sometimes I feel it’s my turn now to step up and advocate for photographs in this fast paced digital world that’s rendered us accustomed to the consumption of easily digestible videos and animations. I’m convinced that photography will always remain relevant, maybe even more so now that it’s becoming increasingly challenging to slow down and take a second look. 

Photographs are an invitation to take that second look. To wonder what it is that the photographer is trying to communicate. To challenge ourselves to look beyond the obvious. To digest something that is a little less easily digested.