what drives me?

colinjreed — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:21:09 +0000

I have been thinking about a question posed to me by my former art professor. The question was this; “What is it inside yourself that inspires you or drives you to take pictures, to make art?” A nice light question, right? I have been mulling it over for a number of days now, and, while I certainly don’t have a full answer, I have a few general ideas.
When I take a picture, my goal is to show people some aspect of the world that they may not have noticed before. I look for patterns in nature, and in architecture, and in life. Recently, in my travels, I have been finding beauty in the faces of the people around me. In Nicaragua and Kenya, everyone around me had such a light in their eyes, despite their less than ideal living situations. In capturing their faces, I hope to be able to show that people are the same all over, and also to inspire my viewers to help out these people in some way. They are lofty goals, I know, but it is still my hope.
These ideas and their application are still in the beginning stages of being fleshed out, but this will at least serve as a starting point.

Colin J. Reed » Photography

what drives me?