The Camera as a Translator: Drawn More to Collecting Than Expressing

I am, for some reason, terrible at table photography.
My energy is drained just by the stage of setting up the lighting, and before I even start shooting, I find myself thinking, "I've had enough."
Lighting is a "craft" that still leads to a solid income even in this day and age. Whether in a studio or outdoors, those who can freely manipulate artificial light and filters are undeniably strong.

However, I do not possess that "specialized skill."
That is why, when I take photos, I have no choice but to read the light itself. And observing light is something you can pick up surprisingly quickly if you just enjoy it. What is actually fatal for me is that, in the first place, the desire to "express the image inside myself through photography" is not very strong.

If I feel something at that time and in that place, and I can capture it just as it is, I am satisfied with that.
Photography is not a device for bringing the images in my head out into the world; it is closer to a "translator" for bringing the atmosphere and information of the outside world back into myself.

Perhaps I am not an artist, but a collector.
A "collector of the world" in the sense that Sontag spoke of.
I am the type of person who feels more drawn to "picking up" things than "creating" them through photography.

#PhotographyTheory #HowToTakePhotos #Essay #PhotographyPhilosophy #CreativeTheory #Lighting #Fieldwork #PhotographyEssay #StreetPhotography #WhatIsExpression #ShootingAsACollector #WantToConnectWithPhotographyLovers