I have kept a special place in my heart for the art of photography.
I love its beauty, the way it tells stories, how it makes people feel a range of emotions. It is a powerful medium.
There were times when I was never seen without a camera.
It was in my hand.
It was in my purse.
It was in my backpack.
It was in my car.
It was within grabbing distance.
The past year and a half has not been that way.
I went weeks without taking a single photograph.
There were days I honestly could not tell you where my camera was & did not care.
I stopped carrying my camera when I went places.
I can not remember the last photo adventure I went on.
A love was lost.
A love was taken away.
I hated it.
I was tired of looking at the past and missing it.
I hated that I was hiding behind my camera to feel safe.
There was a storm of unfamiliar emotions within me that I could not adeqately express. So I stopped trying & began pushing them into a dark corner to be forgotten.
There was a part of me that did not want to bring my camera with me on the race.
But the Lord has something planned.
I have thought more about photography this week than I have in the past year and a half & I can feel the excitement returning.
My photographs are not for you.
My photographs are not for me.
My photographs are for the Lord.
This beautiful gift that he has given me is to be used for the purpose of telling stories.
The stories of the forgotten, the young, the old, the men, the women, the sileneced, etc.
The stories of God's precious children.
My goal is not to take over 100 photos a day but to be super intentional about the images I take.
Taking the time to sit back and really observe.
Finding those moments of true emotion, finding the sides of people that they think no one can see.
There is something speacial about each person.
I was telling one of the ladies on my squad all of these things Monday afternoon & as soon as out conversation had ended our ministry contact, Tony Deien asked if anyone had a "nicer camera" and could take some photos of some of the boys he is mentoring for their sponsor pages.There was my camera sitting in my lap; the first day I had brought my camera out of the case since leaving home. Well Hello, God I see you are making a point here.
So here I am in Honduras falling back in love with a gift I have been blessed with.
[ Anderson]
[ Ben & William ]
"I walk, I look, I see, I stop, I photograph"
-Leon Levinstein.
