What Photography Taught Me About Writing
Photography and writing might seem like two very different crafts, one built on images, the other on words. But the more I practice both, the more I see the overlap.
With a camera, you learn to notice light. Where it falls, what it reveals, what it hides. With writing, you learn to notice meaning. Which details illuminate, which distract, which shadows hold the truth.
In photography, editing is as important as shooting. You take dozens (or hundreds) of frames, but only a handful make the cut. Writing is no different. Draft pages get whittled down, words trimmed, whole sections discarded to let the strongest image emerge.
And both require patience. Sometimes the shot doesn’t come together until you’ve waited for the clouds to shift. Sometimes the sentence won’t land until you’ve rewritten it a dozen times. The common thread is paying attention long enough to catch the moment when everything clicks.
Learning one discipline sharpens the other. My writing has made me a more intentional photographer. My photography has taught me to see beyond words. Each one teaches me to slow down, look closely, and honor what’s in front of me.