What is a Photograph?

I've been adding keywords to my vast collection of digital images using Adobe Lightroom.  It's a daunting endeavor, but I have managed to add identifying keywords to over 350k images.  Today, as I was uploading another drive full of images and the question struck me.  "What is a photograph?" As a photographer, that seems like a simple answer.  It's a piece of paper coated with and processed with specific chemicals which produce either a color or black and white image.  But this is where the question got more complicated for me.  It's so much more...

If you ask a child what a photograph is, they would probably say something as simple as "it's a picture".  But if you ask a mother what a photograph is you might hear something like "it's my child's first birthday party" or his/her first day of school. Almost as though they are looking at a photo album. These memories reside deep inside our hearts, and sometimes don't come to the surface until we look at a photograph or talk with a person.

What came to me today as I was looking at all these images was the significance photography has had in my life. I was suddenly overcome by memories of people and events which played such an important part in my life.  

I don't live my life for the past, I live it for what's to come next.  However, people and events play an important part of who we are. 

For me, as a photographer, photography is a way of capturing time. I know of no other way to bring to one's conscience the people and events which make up the past.  

For instance, this afternoon I was reminded of long lost childhood friends, gatherings with friends, my Mom and Dad, Brother's Craig and Eric, my Grandparents, my wife Rebekah, Rebekah's family, all the family pets (cats, dogs, hamsters) Jenna as a baby, my first camera, Jenna's first birthday party, Jenna's senior prom with Daniel, Jenna's high school graduation, Chelsea (my other daughter from another mother) family gatherings at holidays, the way the house filled with the smell of turkey at Thanksgiving, the excitement of opening gifts at Christmas as a child, playing baseball in the middle of the street, playing softball on the Cameos, my childhood best friend Penny, taking hikes in the hills with the neighborhood kids, my high school friends, playing baseball down at the church field, playing basketball and volleyball in high school, the Oakland A's, sitting on my Dad's lap eating popcorn, dates with my daughter's father, Leonard, and my best friend, Gigi, my maternal Grandmother.  So many others have been instrumental in my life, but if I listed them all I'm afraid I'd lose you.

Looking at the vast collection of photographs is also a tool for me to gauge my progress as photographer.  I pride myself on learning and perfecting my craft/passion. 

As I reflect on who I am today, I am reminded of all the people who have entered and left my life.  Each one has left an indelible impression on me. They are like a piece of a puzzle, they are a photograph.