Ode to photography

Almost without knowing you, you were there to show me who I was when I wasn’t even aware of myself.

Almost without knowing your name, you hit me with that blinding light on summer nights with my grandparents in Chipiona.

You were always there, and it wasn’t until I stepped foot in the north of Spain that I began to get to know you. To play with you and to make you a part of my life. You brought me very good moments and very frustrating ones at the same time.

I still remember those blurry, dark images. Or those that had nothing to tell. Because I hadn’t yet delved deep enough into myself to know what I wanted to tell.

I remember those years saving to make you more mine. To be able to say that now, I had truly earned the right to those images I incessantly shot at the swipe of a checkbook.

In the end, I decided to sell you, and I decided to buy you back many times in my life. Because you’ve always been there, and thanks to you, I’m able to recall things my mind has already removed. Ordinary days that you make me remember as wonderful. Bad moments that you make me recall as the most beautiful symphony ever composed.

And yes, I’m referring to you, photography.

Today, you are in my mobile phone, available to me without asking for anything in return. I experiment with you, I question with you, and I discover the world with you. You make me observe people, cars, sounds, and animals in a deeper way. You make me want to be a better observer, wanting to control light at my whim.

I’ve always thought that life is a bit like photography, it’s about lights and shadows. And we need one for the other, because without the shadowy days, we wouldn’t appreciate the days of light.

You allow me to hit the rewind button, taking me back to places I once visited and to be with those people I once loved. And that is priceless. So thank you.

You deserved something like this, and here ends my ode to photography.