World Photography Day 2021 - The power of photography
“Tokyo 2020” brought a mix of emotions and fascinating moments in the history of sports. Empty gymnasiums and stadiums. No fans, friends or family members around to attend the games. A result of having the first Olympic Games during a pandemic. Games that were all silently captured by a media team showing the world what we couldn’t see from close. From the podiums to the streets the spotlight remained in the team of photographers, the ones to carry out the responsibility of sharing the truth, transporting us from behind our screens to the emotions of the scenes captured through the eyes of others, being able to “capturing beauty others might not notice”. Because of the advancement of technology, Olympic lovers from all around the world were able to follow the news instantly. As someone remarked, the media team deserved a medal, a gold medal. A diverse team coming from every corner of the world to play on the same team.
With the statement and events mentioned above I reflected on the power and the meaning of photography for 2021 World Photography Day, and how much photography connects us.
How many of you receive, take or send a photo daily? How many of you couldn’t attend a wedding, a birthday celebration or graduation? How many of you couldn’t visit your newborn family member? How many of you smiled or cried when seeing a photograph? How many of you laughed out loud from a memory after receiving a photo? How many of you felt connected despite the distance, place or time?
After many years I came to a realization that photography, connects, transports, expresses and eternalizes. Photography informs, inspires and amazes us. Photography shares and freezes time. Photography tells stories. Photography creates an awareness, brings us joy and hope. Photography teaches us history that has been once documented. Photography can also be education, and many times, the truth.
We can agree that today we all carry hundreds, maybe thousands of photographs in our pockets.
Millions of photos are uploaded daily, across multiple news sites and social media platforms, once again showing that photography is part of our daily lives. With photography people explore creativity, develops patience and concentration, increasing attention to details. With photography the world can see the unseen, having power to transform one’s mind, heart and soul. Photography captures true beauty.
When meaningful it tells something uplifting about humanity. When meaningful, photography has the power to silently change the world, to create opinions, a tool to initiate meaningful conversations.
For this year, I invite you to also reflect and explore the meaning of “meaningful photography”.
Happy World Photography Day! For last year's World Photography Day photography gallery click here
