By Geetika Aggarwal:
19th century: “I am a photographer.” “Catch him! This man is into witchcraft!”
20th century: “I am a photographer.” “Wow! That is so cool! This is the first time I have met one.”
21st century: “I am a photographer.” “Dude! Me too. Hi 5!”
A photographer is a person who takes photographs. A professional photographer uses photography to earn money whereas amateur photographers take photographs for pleasure and to record an event, emotion, place, or person. Here we talk about photographers. Not professional photographers. Not amateur photographers. But photographers.
Mobile cameras and photo sharing applications on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, have played a big role in spreading the photography virus. The moment cell phones with cameras became affordable and easily accessible to the majority the new trend of clicking pictures of every major and not-so-important life event kicked off. We all started sharing these pictures on various social networking sites anticipating comments and likes from friends. We all gradually moved on to digital cameras. Because of the new digital technology, the need to install a film in the camera wasn’t required. This meant no need to limit the number of clicks to 36 per roll, you could click a 360 if you wanted.
A lot many may not have knowledge of the shutter speed or aperture of the camera but does that make a photograph less beautiful? A professional photographer must be aware of the entire technical aspect of it, true. But photography is not restricted to professionals anymore. Photography has become the new in thing. It’s a rage. And it is contagious. It’s a passion for many. It has become a medium of creative expression others. We see a number of people today following their passion by going on road trips to capture the beauty of nature or attending photography workshops on weekends. For others, photographs are just reminiscences of faces and places.
We also have another group of photo-enthusiasts, whose passion for photography increases so much so that they leave their well-established careers in other fields to make their passion their work. Atul Pratap Chauhan is one such commercial photographer who left a job in the hospitality industry to pursue photography as a profession. He is not the only one though; there are a lot many who have similar stories.
For me, clicking pictures is a hobby, it is something I enjoy. It is a way to capture memories. For you it could be something else altogether! But at the end, we all are photographers!