Imagination
Some of you may remember this, but when I was young I used to skateboard. I used to skateboard a lot. In fact, I had dreams of turning pro and getting paid to skateboard. Well, that never happened, but that’s not why I bring this up. As a skateboarder, I was constantly searching for fun things to skate—sets of stairs, benches, curbs, handrails, unusual dips in the concrete, whatever. Even if I didn’t have my skateboard with me, my eyes would still seek out features that I would skate. And it got to the point that my entire world was seen through the lens of skateboarding. I’d be sitting in class imagining myself doing tricks off the teacher’s desk. My imagination was on overdrive—my brain turned the normal world into this imaginary skatepark that only I could see. And I couldn’t turn it off—it completely consumed my mind.
While I no longer skateboard, I have recognized the same tendency since becoming a photographer. But instead of curbs, handrails and benches to skate, my photographer brain sees light, shadows, angles, colors and compositions everywhere I go. Even when I don’t have my camera with me it’s as if my eyes are the camera lens and I’m searching for a shot. And when I see it, I click the imaginary shutter in my mind. I often remember it in vivid detail.
I can’t help but wonder whether we are all living inside our own imaginary world, to a degree, or whether this is a unique trait. If it does happen to others, is it more common amongst artists, creatives and dreamers, or does it happen to everyone? Are we all physically existing in the normal world, but experiencing it through our imagination? Or do some people see the world exactly how it is? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
"The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless."
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
