Photography is My Art

I explained what I meant by Motherhood is My Calling, and now I would like to explain the next part of that phrase. Photography is my art.

What is art? When you strip away all the subtle elements, the illusions, and the preconceptions… art is when humans make things.

And why do we make things? We make things because we were created in God’s image. We were created to create. Russ Ramsey talks about this is “Rembrandt Is in the Wind.” Makoto Fujimura talks about this is “ Art and Faith”. The idea that we were created to create is not new, and was in fact very trendy in social circles a few years ago.

And yet we fight it.

We dismiss our selves, our talents, our gifts. We think the things we make don’t really count. We demean ourselves and our gifts. We offer them apologetically . We know we aren’t True artists, we say. We aren’t painting or anything grand. “It’s just a hobby or just self expression, or just a little side project. I dabble.”

I say enough. It is art. Accept that. Repeat that, believe that.

It’s art. We make things. And they are good. Our Father created out of nothing. We create out of the things our hands find to do.

My hands found a camera.

“Your camera takes great photos” has always irked me. If I set my camera on a tripod with its timer it will capture whatever the lens sees.

But it will not tell the story.

The camera doesn’t know what to focus of, the camera doesn’t know to highlight the emotions, to authentically tell the story of the people in the frame. My camera, lovely as it is, doesn’t know to focus on the delight on a baby’s face as it grins up at his mama. But my soul does. My soul knows to focus on what matters. Relationships. Love. Endurance.

My camera doesn’t tell the story. It may record the moment, but it doesn’t bring Heart and Soul to the image.

I do.

And that is my art.

Storytelling is my art.

And I do that through the medium of a camera.

One day I do hope to paint. I’ve had the privilege of taking some classes by Jeanne Oliver , whom I highly recommend. Some day , in a different season I may paint. I may make art in the more traditional sense.

But that doesn’t diminish who I am today. The art I create today. The stories that I am telling in this current season, be they mine or my children’s , or a friends…

Stories are worth telling . Your story. My story. The big ones, the small ones. The stories that haven’t yet reached their happy-ever-afters.

Maybe, like me you find yourself in the Middle. Mid life. Mid parenting.

Maybe today you will discover your art. Maybe you’ll pick up a paint brush or a needle and thread or a rolling pin or a camera.

I hope that you do. I hope that you don’t apologize for calling the things you make Art.

And I hope that you document the journey.