Sy Photography

There was a time when photographs were called "memories." Really, they were called that in some languages, many of which are now extinct. If someone wanted to remember a moment, or just wanted to stand in front of something, they had to think really hard about it and hope they didn't get amnesia. Then photography was invented, and suddenly moments in time could be captured, just as long as color wasn't important. It took a little while longer to get the hang of that. Now, we take pictures of everything, although the main subjects tend to be cats, meals, and ourselves. The ultimate achievement would be taking a selfie of ourselves eating a cat. That's also a good way not to get invited to the Shmoop Holiday Party. Photography started its existence as a novelty, but it's difficult to imagine the world without it today. It's become a legitimate art form on its own. It's also more ubiquitous since everyone carrying around a digital camera in their phones. Methods have changed, as well. Photography used to be a chemistry-intensive process that involved soaking a picture in different solutions to bring out a picture. Now, it's closer to computer programming. In any case, it's still all about getting pictures of cats. Some photographers are in it for the art. Maybe they like landscapes, or they want to document the anguish of a particular group of migrating swallows. That's not the point. The point is that there are practical concerns for this line of work. Practical concerns you learn from a photography major.