First camera, a Kodak Instamatic c.1971
Self-Portrait - 2021
Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography. George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company.
My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic. I guess photography is in the blood, both my father and my maternal grandfather were keen photographers, developing their own film and prints. However, I did not take it up seriously until the year 2000. I found a love for developing my own black and white prints in the darkroom. I relished the creative darkroom process and took some time to adapt to using digital when I closed down my home darkroom.
What I love about stills photography (particularly black and white) is the story and the emotion that can be conveyed through a single image that cannot always be communicated in the same way through moving images. As a Christian and follower of Jesus Christ, I also love the Bible which is God's message to mankind. This message is full of truth, emotion and light.
Photography derives from a Greek word meaning drawing with light. Light is an essential element required for photography. Without it there is no image. It is also one of the most important elements of creativity in achieving a successful image.
We have light in the world because God said, "Let there be light", and there was light (Genesis 1:3). The Bible also tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John1:5). The problem is that there is a lot of darkness in the world. The Bible calls it sin and we and our hearts are the cause of the problem, Jesus said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness" Luke 11:34. Jesus said, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil" John 3:19. That is what sin is, rejecting the Son, the light of the world who was sent by the Father to show us the way to God. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" John 8:12.
The account of the incarnation, birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth, not just a nice story, it is truth and the only truth that will bring you salvation. Without light there is no photographic image. Without the light of the world, there is no salvation, no heaven, no eternal life with the Creator God who loved to world so much....
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation (wrath absorbing sacrifice) for our sins" 1 John 4:10.
I hope that you come to believe in him, embrace him, admire him, love him. But above all, know him, the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Know him for all you are worth, and you will know the key to truth and life.
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