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It was late afternoon and the dappled sun was warm and golden with the perfect summer glow. I immediately knew that I needed to capture this feeling. I picked up my camera, framed the shot, then went against what the “real photographer” voice in my head was shouting and defocused the lens. Because what I wanted to remember wasn’t the wall, or the door, or anything else tangible in that frame. It was the way that light felt and the way I felt at that exact moment. A clinically sharp photo would’ve missed it entirely and been a perfectly boring shot.
Photography can be a practice, not just a product
Most people think of photography in two modes…“professional/artistic” (composition, lighting, skill) or “phone snapshot for social media” (documentation, proof you were somewhere). There’s a third mode that doesn’t get talked about much: photographing as a way of paying attention. Not to produce anything. Just to notice.
You don’t journal to produce a finished product either…you journal to process, notice, slow down. The camera can do the same job. It can be a tool of observation. I often wander around with my camera and completely lose track of time just observing through my lens. The beautiful way the light is glowing through a leaf or the angle of a shadow falling across the sidewalk is pure art. The capturing of these images in itself is a way to journal. It’s also a powerful way to stay in the present moment through the art of observation. The pressure of “is this a good photo” disappears when the goal isn’t the image itself…it’s the noticing. Once I stopped asking that question and started asking “what am I noticing right now,” my mind was able to relax and everything about the way I used my camera changed.
How this actually looks in practice
I find myself drawn to little pockets of everyday life that tend to go overlooked or unnoticed as we go about our lives. The way the light falls through the window onto the bed, the baby tomato appearing from what was a bloom just yesterday, or the just-about-to-die flowers from my son from Mother’s Day.
Noticing these details of your life and taking a considered photograph is a way of preserving what you feel and who you are right now. It’s an important way to make sure you move through your days with intention and awareness. These photos preserve feelings. They don’t need to be a portfolio piece.
How to use this practice for art journaling
There are several ways to weave this practice into your art journaling. The first is to actually print and paste your photo directly into a spread and journal or paint around it. A little photo printer like this one makes this easy…no need to run to a print shop for a stack of 4x6s when you just want one small photo for today’s page.
Using it this way creates an instant jumping off point for a journal spread. Another way is to use the photo as an inspiration or prompt. Using an image to trigger writing, the same way one of your journal prompts might trigger a mark. The photo doesn’t have to be the art. It can just start it. Or, you can just go out into the world with your camera as a way to get focused, stay present, and work out your ideas before returning and translating them onto your page. It can be its own practice without needing to be a finished product itself.
You don’t need a fancy camera to do this practice. The best camera will always be the one you have with you. I prefer a real camera to my phone simply because it’s distraction-free and allows me to stay present with what I’m observing. Your phone camera will do the job just fine as long as you don’t get sucked into the notifications and algorithms. The next time you go somewhere, pay attention to the details and take one photo of something you’d normally ignore. Don’t think about whether it’s good. Just notice something and keep it.
That out-of-focus photo of a wall and a door doesn’t look like much. But it’s not supposed to. It’s not proof I was somewhere…it’s proof I was paying attention. That’s all photography-as-journaling ever really is.