The Camera

Time hurtles forward at one second per second, sweeping us along with it. To capture a moment in time, therefore, is a crucial and powerful ability which allows us to keep perspective clear and memories fresh.

The camera affects everyone’s lives. No other device can seize an image in an instant and preserve it. The human memory is one of our greatest faults and tragedies – experiences that shape our lives can be forgotten forever. Photographs can conjure up entire sequences of images of places visited, people met and people lost, using the world’s most abundant natural resource: light.

Light is the fastest and possibly the most powerful thing in the universe. The way in which the spectrum is divided as it reflects off nature’s beauty is surely the greatest phenomena humans can appreciate. Different lighting conditions and different locations mean no two photographs are ever the same.

To capture photons through a lens and record the images is the great, timeless invention of mankind. The camera is the pinnacle of human creativity; it sums up what we do best. Photographs give so much joy to so many and photography is one of the most popular hobbies in existence.

The captured image is permanent: time moves on but photographs do not. Whatever happens, that image will always be preserved. Cameras, however, are ever-improving, allowing us to do more and more. It is a technology without limits: a camera can stop time but time cannot stop the camera.

Submitted by: Jon Parker