The photographer: That curious being

Without curiosity, it is not possible to take photos. In my opinion, the desire to know and the curiosity to discover are the basic conditions needed for this profession. Without curiosity, there would have been no evolution, no inventions, no knowledge. Curiosity has brought us to the world we know and how we know it. And being a photographer has a lot to do with exploring, studying, documenting, and investigating the reality we live in.

“The only secret to taking good photos is not to lose curiosity or believe that you have achieved a goal; it is about continuing to search.”

Ernst Haas

The only secret to taking good photos is not to lose curiosity or believe that you have achieved a goal; it is about continuing to search.

You learn to be a photographer over time, with hours of work and experimentation. It is an internal process of experiences and knowledge that gradually takes hold, resulting in your own way of seeing and expressing the world. And on that path, one is nourished above all by curiosity.

Photography is a discipline that demands rigor, inventiveness, technique, spontaneity, thoroughness, and a taste for detail. It may seem paradoxical, but it is so. It is a surprising profession, in which you are always trying, observing, and analyzing the world. Through trial and error, you grow day by day as a professional. This is how you create your way of interpreting and form your code.

From my point of view, the desire to know and the curiosity to discover are the basic conditions needed for this profession. Without curiosity, there would have been no evolution, no inventions, no knowledge. Curiosity has brought us to the world we know and how we know it. Being a photographer has a lot to do with exploring, studying, documenting, and investigating the reality we live in and the world we have inherited. When photographing, a point of view is captured, and color and light are experimented with. But photographing is also about having fun and leaving a message.

On this journey of discovery, photographers are always accompanied by their cameras and lenses. Some colleagues, like me, might pass by a photography store and, if time allows, step in to check out the new models on the market. We know that new technological advancements in cameras will help us achieve certain images and that some photographic accessories will make our lives easier.

In my case, my black-and-white work and street photography have advanced and brought me closer to my vision, thanks mainly to my compact camera. With it, I have been able to take street photographs that would have been impossible otherwise. Lenses and sensors help us achieve the desired result, but without the excitement of shooting and being curious, good photos are not achieved. Sometimes it is as simple as stopping and shooting, trusting your instinct. That is why it continues to amaze me many times when, while processing and editing, I discover new details in the image, as if they were subliminal messages that I would never have seen if I had not taken the photo.

As Einstein said: “I have no special talent. I am just passionately curious.”