For my Deck Photo last week I used a black and white image of a bird walking across a wet expanse, one of my friends and fellow photographers told me that she didn’t like the photo, because it made her feel sad and lonely
When she told me that she didn’t like the photo, I was a little disappointed to tell the truth, but when she told me that it was because it made her feel sad and lonely, I was elated.
One of the things that makes a good photograph is the conveyance of some sort of emotion to the viewer. For most photos, we look at them and move on, it was a photo of a sunset, or a flower, or an insect, or a door, or a building, or a bird, or any
other subject you can think of, but when someone can say that a photo of mine made them reminisce or feel happy or sad, of any other emotion, then I feel that the photo was not only good, but better than I’d hoped for.
Each photo has the potential to reach past the optics of the viewer and into their emotions, when it does, then the photo was worth taking, it was worth the pixels that were spent on it, and the time it took to take and process.
None of these photos are new, but each one has had an emotive response from a viewer, it may not do it to everyone, but to me, that is what makes photography a challenge, to reach into as many of the viewer’s hearts as possible, but to even reach one, is usually enough for me.
As usual, click on the images to see them in their respective Galleries in the Collection.
The Michael Lam Collection's Blog 
Yes I agree, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, but lets not stop there, one has to consider emotions and memories as well. At times when certain colours are present, they can stir an emotion, regardless of the what is in the frame of view.
So true Andrew, colours also have a lot to do with emotion, for some people red in the image may mean danger, or happiness, and Purple may mean royalty, or death. Colour along with composition can change the perception of the viewer 🙂
Also, when certain colours are present in a particular order and coverage, for me makes me remember a something else which starts a chain of thought.
You, my friend, have an ordered mind 🙂
But you are correct, just as certain odours can trigger a memory, so can certain scenes and colours in photos 🙂
Precisely! That most valuable reaction and emotional interest is what makes it for me. When someone tells me that they have any kind of reaction to one of my photos, I know I have succeeded.
It’s only one aspect that makes it good, but its an important aspect 🙂