A learned lesson from photographing 1000 people

A quick chance encounter has revealed to me that I have photographed around 1000 people who’s photographs are worthy of some sort of public showcase; most of them have been captured from everyday encounters and some in arranged settings — regardless of the situation, the aim behind all the clicks have been to ‘photograph’ with the intention of capturing something unique or essential about the character before my camera.

What motivates a photographer to photograph can be as varied as the colors on the rainbow — for me its the opportunity to pause a human for a fleeting moment and capture their entire being; their thoughts, hopes, joys and fears — all inter-mingled in one gaze that only lasts a few seconds and then, gone.

But just like every other endeavor in life, photography is also a hit-and-miss situation. One has to be always ready to fail at taking a photo that is simply nothing extraordinary and it just exists. So if you are not motivated or demotivated by the end result, then you’ll appreciate that you were there when all the forces in the universe prepared itself for you to click that one picture you, and hopefully others, can’t take their eyes off of.

Here are some of my attempts: Humans of San Diego, Portraits, a Photo Story.