Photography & I

So on Sunday at the Comrades Marathon I spent my afternoon taking photos of Swazi runners just outside the International runners' tent at the Sahara Kingsmead Stadium, I had my camera battery fully charged, the memory card empty so I could knock myself out taking photos. It is no secret that I love taking photos, photos of people especially and not necessarily surroundings & add to that people that I know & not just random strangers unless it is a local running event. My motivation to take photos comes from the importance I place on freezing or preserving memories, there are those moments in our lives which we canNOT recover/repeat/replay, & if we could preserve them somehow or freeze them, they remain visible not only in our hearts, but on paper too. That is just my theory. 

I have this gadget, which I am sure can do a whole lot more than I use it for but for now I'm happy to just be able to click away while I try to think of finding time to learn more on the fascinating features that it can actually offer to enhance the photos I take. I respect photographers, I mean those who take those awesome professional looking pictures, pictures I could also probably capture if only I knew how to use this gadget I possess, fully, but for now, I am just content with being able to take high quality pictures, and freeze those special moments. 

I often face challenges in my quest to pursue this love for photography, firstly the subject matters r almost always reluctant to pose for the photos, it sometimes feels as if it is a waste of time for them, but the aha moment often surfaces a few hours later when u receive a message from subject matters requesting you to send the photo u took of them, to them. It almost always does not bother me when subject matter is reluctant, maybe because I've faced so many situations where I wished someone would have captured that moment of me, but noone did, & that is always another challenge faced by a person who likes taking photos, she/he almost always does NOT have someone who will take a photo of her/him when it is her/his moment. 

This is why I appreciate the job done by "Jetline Action photo" so much, this is a SA company (I think) which covers most sports events in SA then sells the photos online, they take thousands and thousands of photos per sporting event then sell online. The photos are often quite pricey for the average person, but the truth of the matter is, the moments they capture are simply priceless, & it is for this reason that I always purchase their photos, besides the fact that the quality is awesome, the moments they capture are simply precious. 

Back in 2014 at the comrades finish I didn't take a proper photo with medal at the end of the race, & thereafter I had to rush to go nurse my then 9 months old baby & hence didn't find time to take a photo of me & my hard earned medal & as a result I don't actually have a proper photo of myself that year after the finish. Another reason why I find it important to have such a moment captured coz much as that moment is still in my heart I do wish to have it on paper, I suppose I was too emotional after that race that I even forgot to just go to the Jetline photo guys & have a photo of myself taken. 

Anyway, so my love for photography comes from trying to preserve those precious moments, those moments which u only realize once they've passed that u actually forgot to freeze them, those moments which u only appreciate once u see on paper. Granted I try to make my subject matters do crazy things, but sometimes I always think it is important to allow ur subject matter to loosen up & not be so uptight so u can get that proper shot of that moment, & that moment can't only be captured by a single click of that camera, sometimes 4- 5 shots just so u can get that one perfect picture. Yea I know I'm crazy but on Sunday it got confirmed to me how important it is to have such moments frozen. I took about 350 photos in the 3 hours I spent at the stadium, photos of the Swazi runners I came across outside the international runners' tent, some I knew some I didn't, but I could tell from the kits they had on that they were Swazis and I would just ask them to pose & show me their medal or give me a peace sign etc, I'm sure some of them thought I was crazy, well until they received the photos of course. 

Of course with the love for taking photos comes the responsibility or the task of ensuring these precious memories get shared with the subject matters who are normally very anxious to receive what they now believe should be in their possession. This takes me back to a race I covered in February where I captured close to 900 images at a local race, of course most of the images were of people I did not know, but the beauty of photography is that most people who see you taking the photos notice you and sometimes know you yet you don't know them. Life has been made easier by social networks because it makes sharing much easier, with the limitation being that in some cases the people u take images of, r not on social networks. 

I always feel like it is only courteous to share the photos you've taken at an event whether you decide to sell the images to the people concerned or just share freely but really, what is the point of capturing an image of someone if you won't share it with them????? Anyway, sharing is caring, sometimes it can be stressful, esp coz u have to either use data bundles or if u're lucky, u can access wifi, I returned on Monday from Durban, I was so anxious to share these photos coz I knew if I didn't share by evening on Monday I would be receiving more messages requesting for the share, I had no laptop on me, all these were left at work and I would only be back at work 2 days later, yep I went all round town looking for a place where I could slot in my memory card & transfer the photos to my phone so that I can then share the photos from my phone. Sounds easy right, well it wasn't as easy, first place I tried the card couldn't read, so I went to a net cafe, they said they don't use memory cards, then I remembered a friend who works in Manzini, went to her requested to use her PC, slotted the memory card, copy & pasted the 355 photos onto my phone, processed took +15minutes with interruptions here & there but by 5pm that evening I was sorted, photos were on me and I could go home & start sharing. Sharing I did. These were very beautiful photos if I could say so myself, not beautiful as in professional, but they captured the essence of the moment, the vibe at the stadium, I always think it is not the same as taking a photo of u & ur medal in the car or at home, the stadium has a whole different vibe to it. Actually if I could, I wd've taken shots at the finish line, but it was barricaded so couldn't access that point of the stadium. 

That said, I love taking photos, clearly this is a hobby that shall continue for more days to come, so excuse me if u see me taking photos randomly, do rest assured that I will eventually share those images & if u happen to capture images of other people, do try to share with them without them having to request, it is only courteous. Because Sharing is caring. Hi I'm Kwesi, I love taking pictures. Those who know me well, have learnt to accept this about me and just play along.