Susan Sontag said in her book `On photography` photography is not as artful as e.g. literature, because you don`t put your own pain in it but the pain of others. You can agree or agree to disagree, whatsoever.

The question she raises about the `exploitative nature` of photography is something that concerns me to a much higher degree than that `art or not` issue. Maybe because I`m mostly interested in learning more about the people and myself while shooting.
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It happens before you even open your eyes. You imagine the subject. You think what kind of perspective will be best? Where should I be positioned? What kind of technical adjustments should I use/make? Etcetera etcetera. You open your eyes. Breathe in the idea. Imagine the final product. Personify yourself into it. Imagine that you are the subject. Am I more attractive from here or there? Understand that you are not in control, that the subject flows freely and without your help. Drink in the subject and decide the final ideas. In all this, much seems to be thought. In reality, there is no thinking. You do all of this almost unconsciously.

It happens as you shoot. You peer down the hole of optics and mirrors. You see your subject. Everything has been planned, yet completely immediate in its decisions. It`s a sort of planned unorganization. You breathe, in and out, calming yourself. You rest, tightening your whole body to allow for complete stillness. You hold your breath. You twitch. Your finger presses, and then clicks. The beautiful silence you have created is gracefully disrupted by the click. The opening, and then soon after, the closing. The immense pulse that pounds through your whole body. Circling your veins and grounding itself at your feet. You loosen up. The body calms itself from the quick instant of pure ecstasy. It has been recorded. The world at which presents itself to you at every moment of your life, has been captured. It has been recorded onto which modern world would call technology. Almost as if a vacuum has extended out in front of you and cloned the earth and placed it onto a portable recollection. Viewable at any given moment.

It happens afterwards. You view your work. You share your work. Input and comments from the people around you are taken into consideration. You hear insults or congratulations. They tell you how much they love it. How much it has moved them, inspired them, and forced them into thought, etc. You hear these things, and you are pleased. Corrections are made, and improvements are taken into action. Forever making oneself better, while helping those around ourselves. Finding the connection that we can share in these things, and allowing them to move us closer. Allowing them to share common grounds. Common interests or charities. Saving the world one second at a time. Capturing those moments that move the masses and pour tears into the eyes of millions. What would it be to do these things, if you could not share them? The sole importance of art is to share it.

It happens forever. The work of famous artists is posted in museums, galleries, households, places of interest. Shared forever on the walls of every street corner. Cherished for what they have done, and what they have inspired. What they have caused, and what affect they had. Remembered for the passion the man or woman had when they took this. The elegant peacefulness of passion and inspiration. Saving the world from complete insanity, and driving it into peace, grace, and harmony.

For, without sharing, what exactly is a Photograph?