PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is the science, art and practice of

creating durable images by recording light or
other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically
by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means
of a light-sensitive material such as photographic
film. Photography is employed in many fields of
science, manufacturing (e.g. photolithography) and
business, as well as its more direct uses for art,
recreational purposes, hobby, and mass
communication. The word photography was created
from the Greek roots (phtos), genitive of (phos),
light and (graph) representation by means of lines
or draw ing, together meaning drawing with light.

I remember the first day I really experienced the

almost indescribable satisfaction and joy of creating a
work of art with the push of a button. My mother had
just bought me a brand new Sony digital camera,
nothing elaborate a basic piece of machinery but it
was more than enough. I gently press down on the
button, keeping my finger in place as I listen to the
mechanical twists and turns and wait for the beep.
Once I hear the familiar sound, I press down once
again and hear the quick snap of the shutter, and
within seconds I am looking at a photograph. The
device in my hands has once again captured a
moment in time one of many that have been, and
many more to come.
 I spent the rest of that day taking photographs of
anything and everything I could get my hands on
candles, vases, decoration pieces, flowers and plants
in my garden. From that day on, I realized
photography was the one thing that could always
bring me delight and peace of mind in times of stress
or hopelessness.It became a passion that created a
place for me to be content, to get away from the
world around me when I needed to be by myself.

As I grew older and moved into my final years of

school, the reality of the world around me became
clearer - the reality of India country where the people
have little to nothing, and people like me have
everything we needed. I wanted to try and help, and
so I did.
In my second last year of school, I helped to better
the reality of the world I lived in. I organized a
photography competition within my school asking
students to submit photographs of their own that
they believed represented India.There were several
entries from several students, including myself, and
the photographs were displayed one day after school
and sold to students and parents to raise funds. The
sale raised about Rs. 5000 which I donated to the
Citizens Education Development Foundation an
organization that aims to provide education to poor
children in the rural areas by means of home
schooling, mobile schools and student scholarships. I
am proud to have contributed to educating the next
generation of India by using a passion that I share
with my fellow students a small contribution, but a
contribution nonetheless.
Photography started out as a hobby, then became a
means of escape and comfort and now it acts as a
means to show how I perceive the world around me.
Slowly but surely it has evolved into a staple of who I
am. To most, a photograph is an image on a piece of
paper or on a computer, but to me it means so much
more. It is a means of capturing emotion happiness,
worry, excitement, or anger. It is a way to stop time,
or as they say in Latin, carpe diem once the
moment has been captured, it remains there forever.
It is a means of change spreading awareness and
information by capturing what others cannot see.
And it makes me proud to say I can do all of the above
with the simple push of a button.