There is an old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words." As clichéd as it may sound, the profundity and veracity of this statement led me down a path less trodden. It was through contemplating the nature of our existence and the fleeting quality of life that I found my way into the captivating world of photography.

As I ruminated over the meaning of life, an idea took root within me. Our lives are but a jigsaw puzzle of ephemeral moments, continuously morphing and eventually dissolving into a cascade of memories. To most of us, these memories are what we leave behind, the remnants of our life journey. They are the slices of our existence that shape the narrative of our life. The more I pondered over this, the more I was drawn to the notion that capturing these fleeting instances was a profound way of inscribing our existence into the annals of time. It was this epiphany that led me to pick up my first camera.

In the initial days, the camera felt like a strange tool, foreign and complicated. I was a stranger in a world of ISOs, shutter speeds, and aperture settings. I knew nothing about composition or light or how to capture a moment in a way that did it justice. I was filled with self-doubt and uncertainty. But beneath all these layers of apprehension, the concept that first drew me towards photography was still flickering – the idea of preserving memories, of seizing moments that would otherwise slip away unnoticed.

As I began to view life through the lens, I started to see the world in a different light, quite literally. Photography allowed me to freeze moments, to make time stand still, if only for a split second. It was like holding sand in my hands, grains that would otherwise simply slip away. I realized that life was filled with these grains of sand - little instants filled with laughter, tears, triumphs, failures, beginnings, endings, and everything in between.

The more I embraced the art, the more it became clear that photography was not merely about clicking pictures. It was about encapsulating fragments of time, of people's lives, into tiny rectangular frames. It was about narrating stories without words, about giving form to emotions, about making the intangible tangible.

Soon, the once alien contraption became an extension of my arm, and every click of the shutter became an imprint of my soul. I started to see each photograph as a poem, each shot a verse that spoke volumes about the subject. And with every picture I took, I was not only immortalizing a slice of their life but also partaking in their journey.

With time, the meaning of photography in my life deepened. It became an intimate process, a silent dialogue between me and the moment I was capturing. Each photograph I took was a tiny piece of the jigsaw that was life, a moment caught between the past and the future, forever to remain in the present.

In a way, I believe my journey into photography has mirrored the concept that originally drew me in. I set out to capture the moments that made up the lives of others and, in the process, ended up capturing the moments that make up my own life. The images I take are not just reflections of the world around me but also reflections of myself and my growth as a photographer and as a human being.

Life, after all, is a series of images, a continuous stream of moments that transform into memories. As a photographer, my mission is to catch these moments before they morph into the past, to capture the essence of life in its raw, unfiltered form, and in doing so, leave a trace of our existence for future generations to ponder over. Through this art form, we not only create memories but become part of the collective memory of the world. This is the essence of my photographic journey, an endeavor to create a timeless narrative of our fleeting existence.

The lens has not only allowed me to capture the beauty of the world but also helped me understand the fleeting nature of our existence. It taught me that we are not just living beings passing through time, but rather time itself passing through us. Every photograph is a testament to this passage, a reminder of our ephemeral existence, and an ode to the beauty of life. My journey into photography has been a journey into understanding life itself, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

‍