Snapshot… A word to be proud of.

Let’s make this quite clear. Photographers are a funny breed. While they aspire to be something they’re quite often not, they like to abuse others, or make them think they are inferior by using a word which has somehow become a derogatory word.

Let’s take a moment and see the dictionaries description of a snapshot:

noun
1. an informal photograph taken quickly, typically with a small handheld camera.
“a collection of family snapshots”

But, that’s what makes snapshots the best kind of photograph, and these photographs will be the ones you cherish more than any through your time taking photographs.

What is a snapshot

A snapshot is a complement, you’ve managed to capture people, subjects and places naturally. You’ve captured a moment in time that, for a split second, will always be with you because of your timing.

Every time you’re out with the camera, every time you press the shutter release button, you’re taking a snapshot. The moment you start doing street photography, the moment you start shooting events, the moment you take photos of families and friends, the moment you chase the light for a landscape photograph. You’ll have a collection of photographs from that place and time… A snapshot of your time with the camera at that moment.

Is it an insult?

It’s time we changed the connotations of the word, we all take our best, and most importantly, most interesting photos when others claim them to be snapshots. Looking through people’s images, the ones that draws you in are usually the ones which the photographer thinks are his or hers weakest work, the ones that are not edited and have flaws. They’re the ones we all love.

It doesn’t matter if you photograph with a phone or a camera, snapshot is used as an insult, but it really isn’t an insult at all. It just means you have vision enough to capture moments as they are, and not a false representation of what you want it to be.

Aspire to make snapshot a word to be proud of. After all, it’s your most memorable work and the images you’ll always go back to.

— This is just an article to make to think about how you use the word “Snapshot”. Over the years, the word has been used in the wrong way too often. Let’s reclaim it!