Thursday's Thanks, Vol. 1

Every Thursday I will be posting a new edition of "Thursday's Thanks" to both have a moment of reflection and hopefully inspire some thoughtfulness.  Because this is the first edition, I thought I'd do a photography theme.


If you take a moment to think about the camera, really think, I think you will agree with me that it has been one of the defining inventions of the past two centuries. A camera is a pause button for moments you don't want to end, it can transport you to any location with a look, it is a source of wordless news, it can lie, and it can tell the truth.  However, most importantly, it can make anyone an artist.

Here is a picture of me with my very first camera; it was one of those pre-loaded toys with pictures of African safaris and NYC skyscrapers.  I can remember pressing the shutter button and watching a new image come into focus.  In an instant I could be two feet tall staring up at looming buildings or maybe crouching in savannah grass stalking a zebra's striped rump.  I am thankful that it was in something that was not an actual camera that I learned everything a camera can do.

The fact that the camera is such a universal device is wonderful.  It can become a window into someone's life that had been previously closed off.  Photos like these two are gems; they can help us relate to those we find unreachable and normalize things in our own lives.  The top photo was taken by Queen Elizabeth as her two children buried themselves in the sand.  The bottom photo is Pablo Picasso dressed as Popeye.  These two figures who I had both previously stereotyped (Queen Elizabeth as cold and unemotional and Picasso as serious and depressed) serve to remind me that everyone is human and we all share an emotional spectrum.





Lastly I am thankful that a camera gives us photos and photos become forever memories.  There is something deeply impassioned about looking through old photos, especially photos of happier times, laughter, and those who have passed on.  A photo can bring warmth or snow, laughter or tears, confusion or understanding.  My greatest possessions are photographs and I am thankful for the invention of the camera every day.  I hope that it is an invention that spans the next two centuries, at least.