Why Photography?

Hello Readers,

My name is Jasmine Davis and I am a photographer from Los Angeles, California. At a young age I was very interested in the arts, coming from a family of avid art appreciators. I spent a lot of time practicing music and painting, but I never considered photography as a medium until about age twelve. I learned that the high school I was about to attend had a class for film photography and I was immediately interested. I remember bringing it up to my late mother who, more than excited, handed over her old olympus 35mm film camera. It would be the first “real-no-bullshit” manual film camera, that I would ever own. The idea of learning how to use a camera and what exactly happened when you take the photos absolutely inthralled me. Even more than that was developing the photos. Learning that you could manipulate and craft beyond what you were able to do in camera also interested me. Added to that, merely being in the darkroom for me was… is… so magical and mysterious.

I went on from there to study Photography at the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco, CA. This was a really new journey for me because it really, REALLY, opened my eyes up to the world of Digital photography. I had dabbled some, but was still more for film afraid of losing that darkroom process, which was was a big part of why I LOVED photography. Then I learned about all the pros to shooting digital and found that editing in photoshop was literally a digital darkroom – and one that the artist could have even more control over manipulating a image because the tools were different and time was saved. Theoretically the concept of developing never changed, there were just a lot more buttons.

Now, I live in Los Angeles where I work as a Photographer doing commissioned and fine art work. I’m starting this blog so I can share photos, tips, things to check out, and behind the scenes stuff. Hopefully we can get a good dialog going so that everyone, including me, can learn something and become stronger as photographers.

So, now it’s your turn. Why do you guys like photography? What inspires you to shoot? Do you like the technical or creative side? Let me know below! 

See you guys soon,

Jasmine Davis