Every photographer brings a different perspective to the images they create. For World Photography Day, we invited a few of our Pic-Time Ambassadors to reflect on their craft, from what they look for when they press the shutter, to the lessons photography has taught them along the way.
They shared their thoughts on creativity, emotion, memory, light, and what makes an image stay with them. Here are some of their reflections, alongside the photographs that bring their perspectives to life.
Anni Graham
On Light, Emotion & Creativity
Q: What’s a belief about photography that has changed for you over the years?
Anni: “If I want to nurture creativity, I need rest, space, seasons of downtime, of no work. It’s what reignites my fire and has me craving work again. I used to go, go, go, but now I see the immense value in rest.”
Q: What are you looking for every time you press the shutter?
Anni: “In the most simplest sense, it’s light. Whatever I’m taking a photo of – it’s all about the light.”
Q: What makes a photo exceptional?
Anni: “An exceptional photo creates a deep sense of emotion. Whether it’s a personal memory or a captivating composition, it elicits something in you that you can’t put into words.”
“An exceptional photo creates a deep sense of emotion. Whether it’s a personal memory or a captivating composition, it elicits something in you that you can’t put into words.”
Ryan Muirhead
On Contradiction & Human Emotion
Q: What makes a photo exceptional?
Ryan: “To me, what makes a photo exceptional is when it can contain more than one emotion, and to me, the best case is contradictory emotions.
I think there’s a lot of work that is just beautiful, but when something can strike me as beautiful and sad, or beautiful and contemplative, or beautiful and confusing, that’s what takes something from being good to being great for me.”
Q: What feeling are you hoping someone has when they look at your work?
Ryan: “The feeling I hope someone has when they look at my work could be twofold.
One feeling I would hope they would have is that they recognize something in it, that they either recognize something in me or they recognize something in themselves.
Even if someone has a really negative reaction to something I’ve made, and I know I made it with sincerity and my best effort, I’m interested in that too.
At least it’s producing a reaction.”
Q: What makes a photograph stay with someone years later?
Ryan: “I think what makes it stay with them years later is when I have taken the time to pay attention to how they are, how they sit, how they hold themselves, how they emote, how they act, and that I haven’t tried to erase all of that by over-directing them or over-posing them.
I’ve found a way to make a space for the way they physically and emotionally express themself to be captured.”
“What makes a photo exceptional is when it can contain more than one emotion, and to me, the best case is contradictory emotions.”
Benj Haisch
On Intentionality & Seeing What’s Already There
Q: What’s a belief about photography that has changed for you over the years?
Benj: “I think when I started photography I thought I had to go somewhere else to make interesting or meaningful work, but the longer I’ve been a photographer, the more I’m realizing that there is always an interesting photo to be taken; sometimes you just have to search harder for it.”
Q: What makes a photo exceptional?
Benj: “A lot of it comes down to intentionality in what you’re trying to convey. Sometimes that balance is skewed really heavy and right in your face, and sometimes the balance is much more subtle and it can slowly lead your eye through an image. Both are valid, it’s just knowing what you want to convey and then executing on that vision.”
Q: What’s the biggest lesson photography has taught you about life?
Benj: “Slow down and look for the details. The small, seemingly insignificant moments of beauty that happen every day.”
“There is always an interesting photo to be taken; sometimes you just have to search harder for it.”
Monika Frias
On Beauty, Story & Letting Go of Perfection
Q: What’s a belief about photography that has changed for you over the years?
Monika: “I used to think that the photograph had to be perfect. Now I think it has to be interesting.
I’m still obsessed with aesthetics. Clean lines, beautiful light, great composition, beautiful backgrounds. I’m very influenced by fashion and I can spend an embarrassing amount of time thinking about a frame.
But I’ve also learned that sometimes the photograph that stays with you is the one you couldn’t have planned. Someone moves, someone laughs, someone makes a weird face, something happens in the background and suddenly the whole image has a life of its own.
So I think I’ve gone from trying to control the photograph to creating the space for something to happen, and being ready when it does.”
Q: What makes a photo exceptional?
Monika: “For me, it’s when the aesthetics and the story are both doing their job.
I love a beautifully composed photograph. I’m a bit obsessed with clean lines, beautiful light and simplicity. But a beautiful photograph without a feeling behind it can be a little… empty.
And then there are those photographs where one single frame somehow tells you everything. You can almost hear the music, understand the relationship between two people, feel the chaos of the room. Those are the ones I really love.
I think the best photographs make you stop for a second. Either because they are ridiculously beautiful, or because something is happening in them that you want to know more about.
Ideally, both.”
Q: What feeling are you hoping someone has when they look at your work?
Monika: “I want them to feel like they were there.
Not just remember what the wedding looked like, but remember what it felt like. The people, the energy, the ridiculous moments, the intimacy, the chaos, the beauty.
I want the photographs to feel a little bit like memories, but better edited.
And honestly, I also want them to think, ‘Holy shit, this is beautiful.’
I care a lot about making the work visually strong. I want the photographs to feel considered and beautiful enough that you could pull them out of the wedding and put them in a fashion magazine.
But then, hopefully, you look at the next photograph and there’s someone crying, someone dancing with their eyes closed, a weird little moment happening in the corner, and suddenly you’re right back there.
That contrast is probably what I love most.”
“The best photographs make you stop for a second. Either because they are ridiculously beautiful, or because something is happening in them that you want to know more about. Ideally, both.”
Nirav Patel
On Memory & What We Hold Onto
Q: Finish this sentence: “Photography is about _______.”
Nirav: “Photography is about remembering.
Not just remembering what someone looked like, but remembering who they were to us. The way your dad laughed. The way your grandmother held your hand. The look your partner gave you when they thought no one was paying attention.
The longer I do this work, the more I realize our memories aren’t nearly as permanent as we’d like to believe. Faces soften. Voices fade. Details disappear. Photography can’t stop time, but it can hold onto pieces of it that would otherwise be lost. I think that’s why this work means so much to me.”
Q: What are you looking for every time you press the shutter?
Nirav: “I’m looking for the moments that people don’t realize they’ll miss someday.
A wedding is filled with obvious moments (the first kiss, the first dance) but I’m often drawn to what’s happening around them. A mother watching her child from across the room. Friends who have known each other since they were kids sharing a quiet laugh. A grandfather sitting back for a moment, taking it all in.
Maybe it’s because I’ve learned how quickly life changes. I know those small moments won’t always be there. When I press the shutter, I’m often thinking about the future version of my couple… the one looking through these photographs decades from now. I want them to find something they didn’t even know they needed to remember.”
Q: What’s the biggest lesson photography has taught you about life?
Nirav: “Photography has made me more aware of how temporary everything is.
I don’t mean that in a sad way. If anything, it’s made me more grateful.
I’ve watched parents dance with children who are now parents themselves. I’ve photographed people who are no longer here, and I’ve seen firsthand how a single photograph can become one of a family’s most treasured possessions.
That has changed the way I move through my own life. It reminds me to slow down. To notice people a little longer. To hug my family before I leave. To understand that the ordinary Tuesday afternoon we’re rushing through today might be the memory someone treasures most tomorrow.
Photography hasn’t just taught me how to see. It’s taught me not to take seeing for granted.”
“Photography hasn’t just taught me how to see. It’s taught me not to take seeing for granted.”
There’s no single way to define great photography. That’s exactly what makes it so compelling.
This World Photography Day, we’re grateful to Anni Graham, Benj Haisch, Monika Frias, Nirav Patel, and Ryan Muirhead for sharing their perspectives and reminding us that every image begins with a unique way of seeing.
Happy World Photography Day from all of us at Pic-Time.
