Photography Isn’t a "Hobby", It’s A War Against Time
Most men don’t miss memories because they lack a camera, they miss them because they weren’t paying attention while life was happening.
Most people view photography as a hobby, with a nice camera as a weekend toy, or something you do when you feel creative and have some extra time.
That mindset is why families end up with blurry memories and empty gaps where moments should be, and I don’t mean that only in the literal sense of not having pictures or videos to reflect on years later…
What I mean is that people who do not view the idea of recognizing the passage of time, or having awareness of how special the present moment is, will be doomed to coast through life thinking that they’ll live forever…
Photography isn’t a hobby if you understand what it really is, confrontation with time and the skill to always give a moment its maximum presence.
Time is moving whether you’re ready or not, and it does not care how busy you are.
Time doesn’t slow down because you’re stressed, exhausted, or trying to keep your head above water. It keeps marching, turning babies into teenagers and “right now” into “back then” without asking permission.
Most people don’t notice the passage while it’s happening; they notice it when the moment is gone.
That’s why photography matters…
A photo is time trapped in a frame, a small piece of life rescued from the blur. It’s proof that something happened and someone cared enough to preserve it, and the closest thing we have to stopping the clock, not because it freezes reality forever, but because it lets you return to what you would otherwise lose.
When you look at an old photo and feel that hit in your chest, you’re not reacting to pixels; you’re reacting to a doorway back into a version of your life, which is the magic behind it all.
Think about this:
We(humans) took minerals and materials from the Earth,and used them to create a device that captures time, forever. That is so fucking mind-blowing and yet people take it for granted every single day. It is madness that we can take pictures, nevermind send them across the globe in seconds, and share them in real time with other humans.
…insert exploding-head emoji…
Photography feels like modern magic because it reveals what people miss while they’re living it.
It catches the split-second grin, the look of safety in a child’s face, the quiet moment between husband and wife that doesn’t show up on command, and all the epic micro-moments occurring in every sporting event.
Most of life is invisible in real time because you’re inside it, moving too fast, juggling too many thoughts, and trying to survive the day and produce. A good photo reveals the truth that you were living something sacred and barely noticed it.
As a father, I feel the weight of time more than I ever expected to.
Working men live in a constant tug-of-war between providing and being present, between building for the future and living in the now.
Distraction is everywhere, and the lie we tell ourselves is always the same, “I’ll slow down later.” Later becomes next week, next month, next year, and then your kid’s voice sounds different, and you can’t remember when it changed…
That’s not me being dramatic; that’s the reality most dads wake up to.
