photography is probably one of the most amazing things ive ever come across in this lifetime. it seems so simple; point and shoot. but in reality, there are so many technicalities that come with it that with the digital cameras of today's day and age seems so lost to so many of us mass consumers that the appreciation for this art has swindled significantly. i mean, why go to the studio dark room and fiddle with chemicals when all you have to do is click the little button on your slick new high-techy digital camera, plug it into the computer, and press print? I mean, it's unfortunate that such an art is basically fleeting at this point, but in another sense it is also proof that we as a society, as humanity, are developing ways to avoid the use of chemicals to produce one simple photograph. really, you cant have it all. 

and while photographic technique might not necessarily have anything to do with my graduating friends, photography in itself has everything to do with them. there are so many quirks and oddities that each of them possess; one is in love with the study of the Soviet Union, another can't think about anything else but flying airplanes, one is a passive hockey player who not only loves The Sharks but also shoes, another who lives in the engineering department or the computer lab and only emerges when he's taking a five minute break to torment me, another is an alcoholic biology major who's the best at making mixed drinks, ....so many others... that during the year i took for granted their presence and wish i had spent more time with them instead of concentrated on the last month or so... im going to miss them very much. which is why i need a sturdy camera that will be able to capture my last fleeting memories with them, memories that i will have of college whenever i reflect on my time here... at least i know they will be there in my mind. as if time had frozen. as if nothing would have changed. 

which brings me to this amazing photographer, who had taken a picture of his girlfriend everyday for an entire year. it's amazing to see the captured intimacy and love that just oozes out of the photographs... i absolutely love it. i can't wait until i have a child to do that to; for the first year of its life i shall probably torment it with a photograph each day, because the first year is the year with the most significant changes; it would be utterly fascinating to look back on it once he or she's all grown up... 

it must be the history nerd in me when i profess my love of capturing the past. of capturing memories... of capturing life. 

la vita bella! it's a wonderful life! 

i am so utterly blessed with each passing day.