Why I Treat Photography as a Visual Diary

What’s poppin’, people? It’s Dante, currently walking around Penn’s Landing here in Philadelphia.

Today I just wanted to talk about photography, treating photography as a visual diary, and essentially why the medium inspires me daily and why I continue photographing.

Photography as a Way to Affirm Life

Ultimately, I photograph as a way for me to affirm my life.

It provides my life with this deep sense of purpose and meaning, where every fleeting moment, every little intricate detail around me is fascinating and interesting again.

Almost like I’m reborn each day again.

And so the ultimate reason why I love photography is because it keeps me engaged with reality and curious about things.

When I’m photographing things, I’m honestly just merely curious about what it will look like photographed.

The act of making a photograph is an act of discovery, of learning and growing each and every day.

I never want to feel like I’ve mastered photography or I’ve learned everything.

The way that I engage with the medium is through openness and this sort of receptivity to the sights, sounds, and smells of the street—and that curiosity guides me and moves my feet.

Ultimately, the photograph becomes a reflection of my courage, of my heart.

Photography Is an Embodied Act

In order to photograph, it requires you to be an embodied reality.

It requires you to take risks, to cross the street, to go out into the street and engage with people, to photograph.

It’s a very physical, embodied act.

I practice photography because it keeps me out here in the world and keeps me engaged with every fleeting moment.

And I think that’s a really powerful reason to continue photographing despite the outcome of the images I’m making.

I’m simply fulfilling my goal within itself of increasing my curiosity, of continuously practicing and clicking the shutter each day.

When I’m clicking the shutter at something, I’m merely saying yes to life.

I’m waking up in the morning from this enthusiastic blank slate where I’m trying to learn again each day.

I’m trying to almost get into this period of meditation when I’m photographing, where I slow down my physical body and remain open to everything around me.

That’s the period where I find fulfillment and joy in life.

Detach From the Outcome

I like to simply go with the flow.

I enjoy photographing from this sort of pure blank slate state, and in order to achieve that, I need to detach from the outcome of the images and any preconceived idea of what kind of images I should be making.

Frankly, when I photograph, I don’t have a goal in terms of a gallery show.

I don’t have a goal in terms of producing a book.

I don’t think about the output.

I’m really just immersing myself in what’s around me and responding intuitively and instinctually to everything that triggers me.

That could be the smallest thing—a texture or crack beneath my feet, the tall buildings that are looming, the people and the movement.

There are so many different things I can photograph in my day.

So I remain open to photographing everything.

I don’t really limit myself to what it is that I’m seeking to achieve or photograph, or confine myself to too many parameters or boxes.

Photography as a Daily Record

When I’m making pictures, it’s merely a photographic diary of my day.

That means I’m creating a daily record of how I experience space and time throughout my life.

I’m not looking or seeking or striving or hunting.

I’m simply living my everyday life, bringing my camera for the ride, and photographing whatever I find.

From that state of being, where photography is integrated within my everyday life, it becomes effortless and easy.

And I find that sort of place to be where my instincts can really shine.

When the practice is frictionless, I can really hone in on my intuition, my instincts, and what I gravitate towards photographically, purely and authentically.

A Frictionless Photography Workflow

Ultimately, I go through the work, cull it, and sequence it chronologically in my own self-published zines that I produce at home using my own LaserJet printer.

I have a system on my website where you can create a 36-sequence chronological zine that showcases the photography timestamped and sequenced through space and time without any funny business.

Basically, you just upload and drag and drop 36 pictures, and it will automatically generate a 44-page zine with a contact sheet.

You can even submit it directly to me, and I can print it out and review it on this YouTube channel.

It’s the system I’ve developed to create the output of my work where I have no friction from the ground up.

I’m simply shooting with a small, compact Ricoh GR camera.

I use the automatic settings.

I use a small JPEG with high-contrast black and white cranked to the max.

No post-processing needed.

I simply cull through my photos on my iPad Pro or my iPhone.

Then, when I go home, I back them up, upload them to my generator, print the work out, enjoy it, and move on.

36 Frames of Everyday Life

I create a daily record of my day through 36 frames.

I think that act of removing friction—from post-processing to sequencing to any software involved with photography—can really help you stay engaged with reality and the medium, observing, living, and experiencing life.

Because that’s what this is all about for me.

It’s the physical act of staying engaged with reality.

Treating photography as a visual diary allows me to stay perpetually moving and never stagnant.

So yeah, those are my thoughts of the day.

Just wanted to share some ideas with you about how I engage with photography.

I’m just gonna continue walking and enjoy the rest of my day.

Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video.