Photography
After many years (3 really) of wanting to get a digital camera, I finally got one on May 15, 2003.

I was in Montreal and I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. I had to take pictures with my own camera. I opted to buy a Kodak DX4330.

It's a nicely built camera, but, a bit bulky. The day shots turn out really well, however, the night shots have to be taken with a steady hand. I don't have a steady hand yet, so my night pictures look ghostly and freakish.

Subjects
I have yet to discover what I like to photograph, so for now most of my photographs are of buildings and things. There are some panoramic shots, but, there is nothing really spectacular about my pictures, yet.

I may eventually venture and take a photography course and learn some of the basics and technicalities of taking pictures. But, I do think that going on the deep end without any knowledge on the subject, actually teaches you something.

So, all the pictures that you will see here were taken for the full enjoyment of it all and the simple movement of my untrained right index finger to make the shutter blink for a fraction of a second.


See some pictures »


Pointless rambling
The thing about photography, I think, is that each shot means something to the photographer (or meant something at the time).

Most people I know like to take photos. There is something surreal in the fact that anyone (mortal human being) is able to freeze reality and time in just a few milliseconds. That singularity of time has being frozen for all eternity in only two places: your memory and your picture.

One would argue that the moment in the picture actually lives in other people's consciousness, at least the ones that were around the same place when the picture was taken - I mean, they lived the moment, right? This is not so. Since anyone to have had seen the exact same thing I saw at the moment of the click, had to be in the same space I was occupying at the time. This would break most physical laws known to men.

Also, my perception of reality is entirely different from anyone else's. There can be no denying that was is real, is 'real' and that the relativistic position or existence of the observer doesn't change the 'real.' I'm not talking about psychosis or hallucinations, however, my world, my reality, my universe only lives within my mind and my consciousness and hence it's different from all minds around me. So, the frozen moment in time existed only once in all eternity and now, because of my handy camera, is displayed for all to see in a mundane and pointless picture.

But, now the question is: if I saw that moment in time and took the picture and someone else sees the photograph now, are they experiencing the same singularity of time I lived? Are they living the same reality I did? I lived that moment, I took the picture, but the person seeing the photo for the first time, did not.

Now, I did say that the picture is a freeze of time. So are they looking into the past? Are they looking into my mind? Since that particular point of time only existed in two places, remember? The photograph being displayed and my brain. But, which one represents reality better? The one in my mind or the picture? Can the picture be wrong and my mind right? With the passage of time, does the picture become a lie if you can't remember it in your mind?

Another question that can be asked is: Could we recreate reality and travel to the past by taking an infinite amount of pictures of every single person who has seen or experienced anything? A photo-movie if your like.

I don't know? I guess, sometimes, a picture is just a picture.

Though, I'm sure the thought of freezing a point in eternity goes through everyone who has ever taken a picture. Whether they know they think the thought, is a different story, but, that the thought exists is undeniable, I think.