Do you ‘shoot’ or do you ‘create’ your photographs?

This might seem like an odd question but lately I’ve found myself using the words ‘make’, ‘create’ or ‘take’ whenever I talk about photography. This change in language goes beyond the philosophical issue of what we do when we pick up a camera; my reasons are a reflection of current events.

Every time I think of the word ‘shoot’ I think about recent events that dominate the United States’ national conversation. If you’ve been following along on this blog for any length of time you know I’m against violence in toy photography and I’m against guns. Not because guns are inherently bad, but because we’ve proven over and over again with our actions that we can’t handle the responsibilities that come with gun ownership.

How we got here is complicated and it’s going to take some time,  some hard hitting questions,  true honesty and a commitment to change our attitude towards our fellow man. None of which I will even begin to take on right now because this is a photography blog.

The situation is so awful, so mind numbing, so incomprehensible – that it has made me aware of the words I use.

I don’t shoot photos, I create photographs.

~ Shelly

Lego-China-Legography-xxsjc-stuckinplastic