Photography with a purpose

I'm the type of person who always feels like what they're doing needs reason and purpose. At times I'm incredibly outspoken and have had to learn how to reel it in and watch my words, it's the curse that comes with being an incredibly passionate person.

That passion and need for purpose also seeps into what I do for a living. I've always understood that photos are important, but sometimes it's so easy to get totally lost in the business side of what I do, that the sense of purpose blurs into the distance. I have a moment where I worry that what I'm doing isn't important enough, that it's not making a difference in the world, that I need to be doing MORE.

More. 

It's a simple word with so much weight.

But looking at it on a deeper level, more isn't necessarily more work, but more depth. I want to know that my work has a depth of purpose behind it, and there's a quote from the T.V. show "the bold type" on Netflix that really puts the work of a photographer into perspective.

To give a little context to this quote, the character speaking the line is a photographer and has had a break in his marriage from his wife. During this break, his wife spent some time with another man who was a writer, and this writer had written a piece about her, a piece which she kept in her nightstand that her husband found when they were trying to make things work again.

He confronted her and asked why she kept it, her simple reply was along the lines of: "He sees me, and that's what this piece holds for me."

The following evening, he sets up their bedroom with candles and rose petals on the bed, but also has his camera and lighting set up in the room. When his wife returns, she's surprised and asks what's going on, his reply is this:

"I may not be a wordsmith, but I am a photographer. Let me show you how I see you."

It's a beautiful line, one that brought me to tears. It showed me the depth of what we do as photographers, we show the world how we see it.

We express emotion and feeling, using the tools that photography provides us with, to craft and sculpt an image, painting with light, carving detail with shadow. We tell stories, freeze memories, immortalize loved ones through artistic medium.

I realised in that moment the weight of what I do for my clients. I am blessed with the ability to create a beautiful experience for them, a day to remember, and through that, I build images that encompass emotion and connection, that hold their beauty for years to come, that bring warmth to the soul when you see them on the wall, that create a link to days gone by, and sometimes, to the horses that are no longer with us.

It's a purpose like this which keeps me going on the days when I feel like I want to quit, knowing that if I stop, I would no longer share this beautiful gift with the world. 

I want share what I do with everyone who loves their horses as much as I do mine, because I know how important they are. I know how they are our comfort in the darkness, the warmth in our hearts, the reason to get out of bed when the rain is lashing down outside, because they rely on us as much as we rely on them.

Photography is a gift, and I know that my purpose is to share it with the world.

Stay creative,

Emma x