Photographing for Curiosity

What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante.

Today I want to talk about photographing for the sake of curiosity.

When I practice my street photography these days, I’m simply treating it as a way to remain curious about life. A way to engage with life — the ups, the downs, the in-between, the small details, the overlooked things in our society.

By being aware of my surroundings and engaging with that sensitivity I have toward life, that’s ultimately why I love practicing street photography.

It brings me into the eternal now — right here, in the exact moment I click the shutter.

Curiosity, to me, is the one thing that propels us as human beings. It’s what gets us out there. It’s what makes us explore, do things, and create something.

Why Get Out of Bed at All?

When you think about waking up in the morning, life can feel like an eternal loop — the same day, over and over again.

And the question becomes:
Why not just stay in bed all day?

Why not just lay there, be comfortable, order Uber Eats, watch Netflix, and coast?

For me, the answer is curiosity.

There’s so much out there to see, to experience, to photograph. Photography gives me an excuse to remain out in the world — to stay engaged with physical, embodied reality. To meet people. To notice things. To be present.

That’s why I practice street photography.

Finding Meaning in the Mundane

Photography keeps me grounded no matter where I am, no matter how mundane things may seem.

By returning to curiosity each day, I find meaning in the mundane.
I find a reason to wake up.
I find a reason to go out and play.

So I encourage you to consider curiosity as the ultimate goal of this practice.

The more curious you become about life, the more your photography will improve.

But that raises a question.

Why Do You Want to Improve?

If you’re watching this, you probably want better results. Better photos. More growth.

But what happens when you remove validation?
When you remove approval?
When you remove the goal of making something great — a book, a zine, a gallery, a show?

When you simply enter the flow of making a new photograph?

You start falling in love with life.

When you remove the burden of performance and return to the simplest goal — curiosity — photography becomes effortless.

The flow state becomes inevitable.

In that place, you see clearly.
You feel deeply.
You’re engaged with life itself.

Photography Has Nothing to Do with Photography

Photography has nothing to do with composition, lighting, timing, or storytelling.

Photography has everything to do with falling in love with life.

And if you’re angry, upset, or depressed — that matters. I don’t necessarily recommend forcing photography from a state that isn’t authentic. But photographing from your true state of being can still evoke something real through sensation.

My feeling toward life is joyful.
Playful.
Enthusiastic.

I wake up with a lust for life. I fall in love with the mundane because of photography.

My goal as a photographer is to evoke wonder. Awe. Beauty.

And I recognize that how you feel about life is what reflects back in the photographs you make.

Orient Everything Toward Curiosity

If you’re falling in love with life each day, it’s inevitable that you’ll go out, play, and photograph.

So the goal becomes this:

Orient everything in your life toward curiosity — for curiosity’s sake alone.

Photograph because you love to photograph.

That’s where photography is most joyful for me. That joy is what propels me to keep practicing.

What Improvement Really Means

Improvement is subjective.

You can talk about frames, compositions, corners — but that’s not how I measure it.

Improvement means:

• I’m evolving
• I’m changing
• I’m growing
• I’m seeing things anew

And all of that arises from curiosity.

I don’t find improvement through approval.
I don’t find it through praise.

I find it by waking up and falling in love with life.

Photograph from the Heart

I photograph from an abundant state.
From a joyful state.

I treat my body like the vehicle.
Courage is what drives me.

Courage — from core, meaning heart — is where I photograph from. From vitality. From thumos. From spiritedness.

As much as we can study technique, the most important traits a photographer can have are:

• Courage
• Curiosity
• Intuition

A photograph is made in an instant — a fraction of a second. An instinctual recognition in the embodied world that makes you click the shutter.

As much as you have eyes that can see, you have a heart that can feel.

That’s where I photograph from.

That’s my thought of the day.

Orient your life around curiosity.
Improvement becomes enthusiasm for life itself.
Photography becomes effortless.
Flow becomes inevitable.

Thank you for watching.
I’ll see you in the next one.

Peace.