Photography
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” - Ansel Adams
In the summer of 2019, when I was volunteering at a local elementary school in the village of Mwandi, Zambia, I met this young girl. The tin-roofed school building consisted of 4 classrooms for 6 grades, and was built by hand with mud. Despite this, the colorful and imaginative drawings and paintings on the wall gave the school an air of magic. For recess, the children would head outside to a small play area that consisted of two swings, a soccer ball, and a tree. Yet, every single kid had a smile on their face, and gleeful laughter punctuated the air constantly.
During my time at this school, I met this young girl that was in our equivalent of first grade. I remember the way her face lit up when she saw me walking into her classroom the first day with my camera around my neck. As we were making arts and crafts, she came up to me and pointed at my camera with a beaming smile. At first, she wanted me to take pictures of her, and laughed at each photo of herself. The look on her face made it seem as if the camera was magical. Afterward, she began taking photos by herself, going around to capture pictures of every single one of her friends. At this moment, she reminded me of my 7-year-old self when I picked up my first ever camera. I took my mom’s camera to our backyard and spent hours taking photos of every plant in my yard and portraits of each person in my family. Naturally, these photos weren’t very good, but I remember looking through the photos I took in awe, proud of what I created. It was very fulfilled to see this girl experiencing the same joy that I once did and still feel with each photo that I take.
It was hard to say goodbye to this girl. I had grown familiar with her smile, and the way it lit up my day every time I saw it. As I have reflected on this experience, I thought of a quote by Ansel Adams: “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” My first memories with a camera were filled with the same sense of wonderment as the young girl’s. I came to see the camera as not just a tool to capture images, but a medium for creation. This was evident in the girl’s thrilled reaction and her eagerness to capture her friends on film. When you take a photograph, you are capturing the world as you see it, and providing the viewer with a glimpse into your unique experiences. This is exactly what drew me to photography so strongly, and I hope that girl will someday be able to dive into this passion just like I did.