Essay about the virtues and limits of photography

DE MONTGOLFIER

Camille

TES1

Essay

1. Elena Munoz gives an acceptance speech at the British Life Photography Award ceremony on the virtues and limits of photography. Write her speech.

Thank you all for granting me with this award which can only be considered as dream for a photographer like me. It is such an honor and pride to be here at this ceremony tonight and it would have been impossible without everyone who accompanied me through my career such as my family and friends who believed in me and my dreams which are coming to reality today.

Time is a fascinating subject. How to control it, that was the most interesting part to me. As a child, I would dream of having a time machine and through photography I created my own. The art of capturing a specific moment and being able to go back to it whenever you desire is such privilege, it gives you control of time which is always passing by so fast and terrifying most of us.

How could anyone know that such a small object could allow us to stop time and create eternal moments! I believe that the power of photography is allowing us to see and remember what we desire, it gives us control on our life. Don’t you think that control is one of the most empowering feeling you can have? Through this control of imagery, I can also create a message I want to pass on to my viewers and therefore photography is also an art of expression.

Although I have just presented photography as a power, it is a power within limits. As a photograph, I show my audience what I want them to see. I present to them my point of view and my experiences. As viewers, you need to be able to have a critical opinion on what you see to make it your own and not stop to societies formats, your job is to seek for authenticity.

Lastly, I would just like to express how grateful I am for winning the British Life Photography award that represents the achievement of my goal: seeking to speak through pictures in order to pass a message along to my audience. Thank you all for being here tonight and supporting my passion!

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