Photos That Mean Something

BY SUZANNE WILLIAMS

In an online article I read the other day, the author gave some wonderful advice on photographing children. And as I sat there thinking on it, knowing I do not take pictures of children too often, I remembered a film photograph I took of my daughter when she was about three. Then I also remembered that she's not three any longer, and suddenly this photograph held such meaning in my heart.

I take a lot of photographs and each of them has a purpose. But there are certain ones, like this picture of my daughter, that hold more value to me than the others. I never know when I am taking it, if that picture will be one of "these". Sometimes I don't know until months or even years have passed.

My daughter

One afternoon at my mother's house I snapped a photo of her cat. There was nothing remarkable about it at the time. It was simply her cat sitting in the window staring in at us. She did this all the time. She never wanted to come indoors, but preferred her windowsill viewpoint. As time has rolled by, this photo has come to mean a lot more. It's value is both in the moment, the very "everydayness" of it all, and the fact that she is gone.

Cat in the Window

Other photographs mean something because they capture a particular place, a time I can never return to. Given I had to choose a favorite photograph, this next shot would be one of the first I'd pick. The peacefulness of the scene is so appealing. It's one of those photographs I'd like to "walk right in to," a spot where I'd love to sit and drink in the quiet.

A Beautiful Spot To Sit, Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales, Florida

Then there are the photographs that came because God literally gave them to me. I was at the right place at the right time with no explanation for it. Famed photographer Ansel Adams once said, "Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

My reliance on God is absolute. The other day I was feeling so inadequate to the tasks set before me. "God," I prayed, "I can't do it!" Yet once again, He was there to assure me to trust Him; He would be "more than enough" in my life. These moments behind the lens, these photographs that He gives me, are my constant assurances of that, and that means a whole lot to me.

Tumbling Waters, Amicalola Falls, Georgia

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Suzanne Williams Photography
To read more of my words
Florida, USA