Why do we take pictures? So that we don't forget. A declaration that this moment is worth remembering. Maybe because this moment is beautiful and we would hate to live without it.
I started taking pictures when I was fifteen. A hand-me-down from my dad. I didn't know what I was doing. I'm not sure anyone does. I pointed it at trees and birds. Maybe I felt that somehow a part of them was mine now.
I'd show them to my family. They were patient. I'd dream of seeing without my camera and wake up in a sweat. Maybe we don't take pictures to remember, but to forget. Forget that every moment is fleeting.
I still point at birds and trees, and people too. At mountains and clouds and cars. At the line where the earth and sky meet. Through a door into another world. Collecting moments lest I forget all there is to see.
