Since I’ve been photographing in the parks and streets of Vienna, I have discovered how much beauty there is in the most ordinary of situations. When I have my camera, I notice things on my way, that normally would have passed me by. It’s almost as if I am not just looking, but also seeing. Part of the learning process of photography is not just knowing the settings of the camera when shooting in manual, but also learning to understand composition and what to communicate with your pictures.

What’s the purpose?

Initially, I used to walk around and photograph at random just about everything. I thought that, for a picture to be good and interesting, it had to have a quirky angle or be something completely random. I came home with a SD card filled with images and after downloading it on my computer, I proudly called my son, Hanno, to come and see my wonderful photographs of the area where we live. Hanno didn’t say much and after looking halfway through the lot, he asked me: “What’s the purpose of these photographs, Mum?”

I didn’t have an answer. I felt somewhat disappointed because I thought I would get a better reaction from Hanno. To be honest, when I looked at the photographs, I really didn’t know what the purpose was for most of them. Maybe “What’s the purpose” might be translated in the words “What are you trying to show or say”. I realised that, what I see in the frame, when I take a photograph, is only in limited part of the whole, and therefor it needs to have substance on its own. There has to be a focus on something, and attention to certain aspects of the picture. Maybe it’s also true that not every photograph can speak to every person, and that we are attracted to pictures that makes us see something we can relate to or understand.

In the moment

I also realised that when I take photographs, I am there, in the moment. I know what’s happening and what’s surrounding the scene. I am the one deciding at what point to press the shutter so, whenever I look at my photographs, I will always have this information at the back of your mind. The viewer, on the other hand, doesn’t have this privilege. What the viewer see in the photograph, is what I am trying to tell.

What are you trying to say

The English idiom, “A picture is worth a thousand words” refers to the notion that a complex idea can be expressed with a single picture and this picture communicates it’s meaning or real meaning better than a description does

So maybe this was why Hanno asked me what the purpose of the pictures was. Nothing worth while was communicated to him. Does this mean every photograph should communicate equally? I think on some level, it might also depend on the interest or the mindset of the viewer. Overall there must be something, and this ‘thing’ can only be there when the photographer wants to say something with the picture. When it has meaning to the photographer, it will communicate something to the viewer. I hope that the stories I am trying to tell with my pictures can be enjoyed by everybody who looks at it. This would bring me so much joy to know.