Why I chose photography

A few times I have been asked the questions "why do you do photography?"and "Why do you think photography so popular and interesting among its viewers?".Perhaps I can attempt to answer both questions at once.
My initial interest in photography began when I was 10 shooting candid photographs of family with a little Kodak Brownie that I bought for 2 dollars at a garage sale.At first it was the usual, capturing of moments and memories, that caught my attention.
Having been involved in art classes in school from kindergarten on I eventually saw photography as another medium of artistic expression.I began shooting flowers in vases,shooting tall buildings laying on my back when I went with my father running errands downtown - anything I saw as interesting. Looking back, especially at shooting the buildings while laying on my back I can see where a lot of my love for the abstract comes from.Showing things as they are not normally perceived to be, different angles most do not see an object from, making people have to think to figure out what something is.Macro photography, whether just close up to show part of an object or show a small object in full detail at a larger size is also something I enjoy as,again, I like to show things as they are not often seen.
I feel most do not take the time to notice the smaller details - the small things that complete the "big picture" which is why so many have trouble figuring out what some of my abstract photographs are of.
As for why I think photography is so popular and interesting to those who enjoy viewing it is perhaps that it gives people the ability,or better yet, the permission to stare-as long as they want.
How often have we seen something in passing and wished we had the time to look at it in more detail? How often have we seen someone so interesting that we would love to be able to just look at them but were raised with the thought that staring was rude.
Humans are curious creatures and staring is not done out of rudeness but mostly just to take in more detail and information about what we are seeing.Taking mental notes, if you will.
With a photograph you can stare as long as you like at that old man with the interesting features and deep wrinkles walking down the street,that section of the coast that you were driving by at 65 miles an hour.