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Many men go fishing all of their liveswithout knowing that it is not fish they are after.Henry David Thoreau 

1 – Introduction: why is this question important ? 
Asking ourselves why we photograph may seem a benign question whose answer is self evident. However, while it appears to be simple question, for many photographers answering it is anything but simple.   It is a difficult question because it asks for our personal reasons for taking photographs.  As such, there is no single answer.  Instead, the answer --the reason why-- is potentially different for all of us.   It also asks us to explain why we do something that, for many of us, is impulsive, almost instinctive at times.  It is also something that we have never thought of explaining. 
This is why I selected the quote at the start of this essay.  For a fisherman to explain why they fish can be just as difficult as for a photographer to explain why they photograph.&nb...

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Alain Briot
Alain Briot
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Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, raw conversion, optimization, printing and marketing. Alain is the author of Mastering Landscape Photography, Mastering Photographic Composition and Marketing Fine Art Photography. All 3 books are available from Alain’s website as well as from most bookstores. You can find more information about Alain's work, writings and tutorials as well as subscribe to Alain’s Free Monthly Newsletter on his <a href="http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/">website</a>. You will receive over 40 essays in PDF format, including chapters from Alain’s books, when you subscribe.
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