what is it, what is it that makes you press the button

I was really taken by this quote from Dr. Edwin Land, I came across researching after viewing the exhibition of Wim Wenders Polaroids currently running at the Photographer's Gallery in London.

"I think the new camera can have an impact on the way people live. I hope it can become a natural part of people. It can make a person pause in his rush through life. It will help him to focus himself on some aspect of life, and in the process, enrich his life at that moment. This happens as you focus through the view finder. It’s not merely the camera you are focusing; you are focusing yourself. That’s an integration of your personality, right at that second. Then when you touch the button, what’s inside you comes out. It’s the most basic form of creativity. Part of you is now permanent."

Although he was referring to the then new SX70 camera it could apply to taking any photo and I wholeheartedly agree with what he says and it applies whether you are setting up a large format shot or anyone, I often see with gladness, who will stop in the rush of the city observe something different, a change in light, an unusual scene, and bring up their phone to capture it.

If I had to sum up my interest in photography…it must stem from a liking to being able to ‘freeze time.’ Cartier-Bresson described how many a street photographer feels when at large…”I prowled the streets all day, feeling very sprung-up and ready to pounce, determined to ‘trap’ life – to preserve life in the act of living.”

In a 1979 interview entitled Inside New York’s Art World, artist Louise Nevelson said: “I think that when someone is willing to live and die for something…that means it is in the genes.” That pretty much sums up the sacrifices that many an artist will go through in order to do their art – they are willing to live and die for their art. Whether painter, draftsman, photographer, writer, musician, sculptor, actor or poet, artists use their art as a way to see, interpret and make sense of their world.

If you’re dedicated to your art and freezing time is in your blood, you MUST produce and keep producing, whether you have an outlet or not to make $…or even have any practical use for your output. Irrespective of recognition, fame and riches, we all have one thing in common…as long as we can keep pressing the button and freeze time, we feel the better for it.