faulty memory.

Aside from taking portraits of people, breathtaking views of nature, and scenes that I find interesting, I photograph because, quite honestly, I have terrible memory.

For some questionable reason, an example of my terrible memory is the fact that I have three different planners. You read that right; three. I have one on Google calendar, one on my phone (which syncs with Google calendar), and a physical planner that I write in. Furthermore, I have to write multiple to-do lists throughout the week, or else I'll forget it. I journal (almost) religiously because, as I relayed to my dad one day, if I don't write it down, then I'm bound to forget how I felt that day, or something profound that I learned.

Likewise with photography, there's barely an outing where I don't whip out my phone or camera to commemorate the event. Part of it might have to do with the fact that a lot of my friends do the first-15-minutes-is-devoted-to-us-taking-pictures-of-each-other-with-food. (I know it, and I own up to it!) Photography, to me, is freezing a moment in time. Through photos, I want to capture that moment of how I felt when I saw it through the camera lens. I want to remember the serendipity of that moment and how it felt.

I was reading an article by Eric Kim, who's a great street photographer/blogger who highlights various street photographers around the world and their work. He wrote an article about Daido Moriyama, and this quote is what got me thinking about memory:

"Photography is the capture of the very present moment. It is meaningless to regret in the future what you've missed. Therefore taking a photo of the present is to preserve it. That is the essence of photography. Your feeling is always a reflection of the photo you produce.

The past cannot be captured by the present. And the future also cannot be captured by the present. The present can only be captured in the moment." 

Although I have faulty memory, photography thankfully makes up for it.