Walking, A Way of Photography

Joe Cornish

Professional landscape photographer.

joecornishphotographer.com

“We don't make a photograph just with a camera, we bring to the act of photography all the books we have read, the movies we have seen, the music we have heard, the people we have loved.” - Ansel Adams

In this memorable quote, Ansel Adams distills the idea that photography is truly an act of self expression. He urges us to apply our entire life experience, especially what we have learned from other art forms, and from our relationships, to our photographic seeing. It stands as a luminous signpost to anyone ready to further their photography beyond good craftsmanship/technique.

We recognise that the human character is a fusion of nature and nurture. It's no surprise that when we look at our friends and family – those we know well – we find that their behaviour, their habits, patterns, outlook on life is, along with their own natural instincts, abilities and gifts, a reflection on what happened to them as children, and beyond. This recognition becomes much harder though when we look at ourselves, for the mirror we hold to our own experience is also heavily tinted (and perhaps even cracked) by the very experiences on which we need to reflect. Nevertheless, it is from the joy and suffering of a life – our own – that we ultimately find inspiration. The ideas, the shapes, the proportions, the energy, the colour, the light and darkness that invades our images are at their most eloquent when they are connected to, and reflective of, our life as we have lived it.