What is photography

Photography as an art form is not taken seriously sometimes. A popular saying goes, “Anyone with an expensive camera is a photographer”. To me, photography is a universal language that transcends literacy and cultures. Even an illiterate person or someone who comes from a different cultural and linguistic background can appreciate photos. Photography is an expression captured, at times, for eternity, forging invaluable evidence for posterity. A photo can evoke an emotional response in us. That is the mark of good photography! Today it has become accessible to the masses at an unprecedented level. Anyone with a smartphone can produce pictures. On top of that, the booming social media provides a platform of sharing and appreciating them; pictures of both the monumental and the mundane. It is safe to say that it has, in a way, become more democratic. Photos have found a new meaning and a new role in this century. At the same time, vintage photos have become priceless and we must salute those photographers who have left behind them rare glimpses of life of the past.