Why You Love Photography So Much (Finding Peace) Part 1| Matt Irwin

#peace #atone #mentalhealth

Photography means so many things to so many different people.
Yet I think there is one thing we all have in common ...

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[martinbootneck]

A beautiful video. My photo's bring me so much pleasure, especially my Italy photo's. I lost my wife to cancer in 2015 and now and again when I feel really down I get "the photo's" out and within minutes it brings back all the wonderful moments we shared together on our many, many holidays in Italy. I am 67yrs old and live in the UK. I have back problems, some days I cant put one foot in front of the other and on others I could run a marathon - just a figure of speech lol - and when I can I am out and about in woodland, coastal and anywhere the mood takes me. Thank God for this wonderful planet.

[dbjack]

I had to think about this a while before answering and I think I know why. In my view, it is viewed as a mission, not like we are on a mission from God, but as a mission. Each and every time I head out with a camera I am looking for something. Trying to capture the feeling I have being somewhere. Trying to capture images so that a few years later when I look at them I get that same good feeling I got when I was there. I love my Paris photos, I can taste the crepes, remember how awestruck I was by the Louvre, riding down the river Sienne, and how I finally got to see the Cathedral of Notre Dame for the first time. As odd as it may sound when I look at the photos of my journeys I select my favorites based solely on how they make me feel. The sunrises on Topsail Island. The farmland of the American Midwest. It all speaks to me about how beautiful this planet truly is. That is why I carry a backpack with me everywhere, and I will the rest of my time here. Thanks for this video. It reminded me of why I love photography.

[cotswoldphotographers]

Who needs to go to a health spa when you’ve got a Matt. I agree with and it’s the reason I took up photography early 2018! For me it’s an escape from working in London and the stress of financial markets and the stress of being in a city. I found that I was able to completely switch off after leaving my office and found that teaching myself and studying the art helped me in a very difficult time, one where I was close to causing me serious health issues. I wish I’d done it a long time ago but in all honesty there’s never been so much content out there as there is now. I’ve gone from knowing nothing to being able to produce edit and print some lovely work and whilst it might not be outstanding or professionally recognised, it is the world to me and that’s all that matters. I do not know where I’d be without it. Thanks Matt 🙏😃📷

[blythewarland]

You have in this post unbelievably hit on just how cathartic photography is to me. Without going all oh poor me, because I hate self pity and even worse sympathy, I’m an amputee, I hit a terrible low point and it was my love of photography that pulled me out of the hole I had fallen into. I have always passionately loved photography I had just forgotten how much until I dusted off my camera grabbed my dog and headed down to the mouth of the murray river to spend time with my dog and contemplate life through the lens. A spark that had almost gone out caught flame again and I now wander out and shoot pretty much every day

[smkunder]

My way to get out in nature and appreciate the great things we have. Always enjoy your positivity, it is a bit contagious and thanks for that!

[andrewchisholm]

Photography is my therapy and it also helps me to deal with my serious sight loss and all that it brings to the table. During the lockdown I have been taking more photos of nature in my garden and in my local area when I go on my daily walk. However I absolutely love doing the model studio days I do, well I have done over 60 since 2017, and I love learning from the models and studio owners.

[derrickm]

thank you for the calming positive thoughts Matt, I sometimes feel too anxious to get good shots and then don't enjoy myself as much as I could

[mikebray]

This is part of why I do photography, especially when I can get out and do nature or landscape photography, even urban landscapes like in Toronto., Ontario which is only a few hours from where I live here in Canada.. It gives me an escape from daily life, it brings me a few moments or hours or a day of peace where I am able to get out with my camera, no real subject in mind, just wandering with my camera and being able to create. It takes away my stress and I am able to get out of myself and my own head and go into a different place mentally and emotionally and see the world through a different mind set and set of eyes. Plus it captures those moments in time and memories of being somewhere, taking those photos and being able to create something new and exciting.

Plus I get to get my exercise, fresh air, etc... I find though I get more into this zone though when I am able to go somewhere I have never been before or even if I have been somewhere in the past, it's to a city or someplace that is not in "my own backyard" and not in London, that is when I really get into this zone and I am able to create amazing photos that tell a story and speak not just to me, but to those who view them. I wish I could just escape soon and go somewhere that is not in London, pack up and bring my camera gear and just go out and explore and take photographs.

[danlingphoto]

Another really good topic Matt. :)

For me, I am a Nature Boy. Have been since as far back as my memories go. Nothing is more important to my contentedness. And without doubt, photography grew from that.

I have been doing landscape photography for about 45 years. It's a long story but I'll try to shorten ... I shot almost exclusively with a tripod on Kodachrome25, with a Nikon FE, Nikon 50mm f1.8 and Tamron 28mm f2.5 for about 10 years. As my career as a scientist got busier (I even ran an environmental non-profit - you are right about that connection), I got married and had children, I did a lot less photography for many years. Eventually I took our eldest daughter on a trip to the western US a few years ago, so I bought myself a Nikon D750, 28-300mm and 20mm f1.8, and her a D5500, 35mm f1.8 DX, 18-55mm and 55-300mm. We had a ball, and I re-discovered the joy.

Over the past 4 years, I have gotten deeply, deeply into the rabbit hole. I have read a lot about art theory and technique. I have learned and applied all sorts of new gear and techniques. And I am making the best photographs ever, that inspire me to make more photographs.

I have learned to open up. To open up to all that is there - the things I used to pass by.

I have learned to look for beauty. And I find it.

We could have been lifeless matter somewhere in a lifeless part of the Universe. But we are not lifeless - we are alive! Life is rare and precious. And we are intelligent, sentient, metacognitive beings. What are the odds? And then to have a Nikon Z7 ... well ...

[dontcallmetracey]

Nice one Matt. Best laugh I've had all day. So peaceful down on the beach.

Ready; Matt,
Ready; Chainsaw bloke,
Ready; Plane,
Ready; Cargo ship,
Ready; Screeching birds (we all love a cockatoo),
Ready; Speedboat,
Ready; Bogans,
Aaannnddd Action!

As for the topic, I love images of nothing and the mundane, as William Eggleston/Saul Leiter. Any keeper I have of the mundane has to vibrate before it becomes a keeper. That's why I have so few at the moment.

[thomashamilton]

Thank you in the midst of things closing down during the rise in CV-19 here in Arizona it gives me hope.

[cesarm]

Terrific...great message. Just enjoy life and family thru photography. Look back an enjoy, view the present an enjoy and look forward to the future to enjoy. Good to see you Matt..

[distomos]

Sounds awkward, maybe.., but one reason I like to photograph is to detach myself from people, as I‘m on my own most of the time. I like to photograph in the busy city, but I’m submerged in myself, spotting interesting details, observing the doings of persons around me, etc. Sometimes I team up with a fellow photographer and we wander through the city, talking on the way, sharing thoughts and insides. As we live in a fast paced society photography also helps me to regard the details I missed when I browse through the photos to edit them. It’s remarkable how much goes unnoticed sometimes, small details perhaps, but they add up to the whole picture, so to speak. It’s remarkable and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

[robdeutscher]

Nice chat....here endeth the lesson....is it time to take up the collection!!! I certainly like the solitude and focus photography brings and the fact that it takes me to often 'unusual' places.

[Honkus]

A great topic Matt!! And a great reminder that I have not been following this advise nearly enough...

[MuveeNubee]

And thanks for a bit of comic relief: ship, then speed boat in one ear and out the other 🤣.

[Nippius]

Pretty much spot on. Funnily enough this is also one reason why I became an engineer (software in my case). Getting "lost" for hours on end building/fixing something is also a great way of escaping the troubles of the world and photography is just the next level of that. It's so powerfull that when I'm stressed with something, most of the time I find myself taking a short walk outside with my camera. I don't even go with the intention of taking any pictures but I always end up shooting something.

There's nothing better then just being outside appreciating what the world as to give.

PS: nice location btw, it looks like something out of a Stanley Kubrick movie!

[bobmorse]

Always good to see you and to hear your thoughts. Where was today's segment "filmed"? Are we looking at Port Phillip Bay or open ocean. I'm here in the Divided States of America, so am not clear when you say you're in Melbourne, how large an area that encompasses. I might tell you I'm in Boston, as a general reference, when to a local, I would be much more specific; I'm currently in a town on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, a boat ride and a two hour drive from Boston. I too am fortunate to have ocean and beaches to help me find peace through photography. I find I often enjoy the process more than the result; some days more than others.
Stay well.

[mcmoose]

Thanks Matt, this was one of your best yet .
We see with our brain (mind) not with our eyes . The eye is just hardware (wetware?). For me, photography is about recreating that image that exists in my head, and then sharing it with others .
My greatest pleasure comes, when I share an image that comes close to recreating what exists in my mind's eye . Producing an image that transmits to others a bit of what it was I was feeling when I captured it, and having my audience get it .

[tonyhayes]

Sure, we're made to create and to give life. It never ceases to amaze me how well Catholic teaching fits in with reality. Yeah I know but I am Catholic and I look at it a lot from all angles with a cynical and critical eye. And its always me who come out humbled.