By: Kelsey Aylor, Staff Writer

Click, click, click.

The monotonous sound of the shutter,

endlessly opening and closing,

reverberates through my ears.

Making memories,

creating an archive of

life –

this is my calling.

However, much too often,

the joys of creating,

of composing, of

showing the world through

my own perspective –

These joys are taken away.

It all becomes convoluted

in the how’s of the

process, the rhyme and the

reason.

The Digital Age has

stolen genuity.

Now anyone can take a

good picture –

that is if you have

enough money,

enough time,

enough to sacrifice in

exchange.

Too often, the merits of a

‘good photo’

are determined by the number

of zeroes on the price tag

of a camera;

Or by the amount of time

spent clicking away

on the glowing screen,

as an image slowly transforms,

metamorphoses into something

more beautiful

than initially believed.

I wish we could get

back to the basics.

To the times of the humble

Polaroid, snap, snap,

snapping away, in hopes

that our lucky shots

just might be

lucky enough.

To the times where

mistakes were beautiful

and were eagerly accepted,

knowing that we could

learn, could create, could

see the sincerity of

something not quite

flawless.

However, it is still

a gift to see ones

experiences be forever

enumerated.

And God has given me the talent –

the gift –

of recording, of archiving

through the use of images,

not only for myself, but for others.

As the old saying goes,

A picture is worth

A thousand words.

And I know that though

My speech may

Deteriorate with the toils

Of time,

I will always be supplied with

The fruits of my passion.

So despite the oncoming

depreciation of this art form,

I will continue snap-snapping

and click-clicking away,

in pursuit of creating and recording

my vision of

beauty.