On power of photography in making memories

Living in Blacksburg inspired many hobbies.

"A drinking town with a football problem" as my roommate called the place. I called it "a planet within a planet". For Blacksburg "was" like "The Lost World" (Arthur Conan Doyle) or like "The Village" (M. Night Shyamalan) where time stands still and is unchanged. All clocks stop when you reach Blacksburg and then tick away, slowly and lazily.
But that was back in 2005-2008.
I haven't been to that place ever since, although I would love to visit it one day. The place hold much sentimental value for me as it does for all my friends I made there.
But getting back to hobbies in Blacksburg, (so now that I have established that there was nothing much else to do) my interest for photography and writing started from Blacksburg. Blessed with an inspiring group of friends, a steady hand, loads of time, beautiful Blue-ridge Mountain as my subject  and a digicam (ordinary Pentax) , I just "clicked away".
But, I was a mere amateur then, excited by my new toy and a irresistible desire to show off.
And like all "wannabes" I took tons of pictures, post processed them (hey, I am an architect, can't resist the temptation of morphing images in Photoshop, Illustrator etc.) It brought me all the accolades I wanted, my roommate who would send me hundreds of links of photo competitions (which she did, only because of her love and approval of what I did).
Now, as I look at the pictures in my photo blog, I don't really see the need for such garish, over-saturated images (which is why I called the blog- ostentatious reality), I only see the place, the time, the emotional value of the picture. The power of photography is not in the slick camera angles, not in the crisp post processing, or in any other technical accuracy - they are all gimmicks. The real power of photography lies in capturing the moment and in making memories.

After my last cammie broke, didn't really bother to buy another. For now, my phone camera does a good enough job, but, if I ever return to photography, this time, I would get an old film camera, I would learn how to process and print photographic films in a dark room and take pictures that are totally imperfect and absolutely real. Maybe, I would just take black and white photographs (something that has more depth in it, than a splash of colours). Learn how a pin-hole camera works.

Digicam or DSLR doesn't hold any value for me, it's an over-used and boring medium (since you can take so many pictures and choose the best later, its rarely a heartfelt one and the challenge of capturing the real moment is lost). Unless of course its sports or wildlife photography, which will require technical tools and skills(something with a fast autofocus, adjustable shutter speed, telephoto lens, my steady hand and willingness to risk it all for the sake of a picture).

 

So that's Blacksburg for you in a nutshell, (for those who haven't lived there)
A great place to start off. A home away from home in foreign lands. Bonds of friendship. And loads of pictures to remember it all.

A link to my old photo blog (for the sake of nostalgia) -

http://ostentatiousreality.aminus3.com/