I’m not collecting photos, or am I?
I’ve been asked the question countless times and if you’re a photographer to, you know which question I mean. Why do you do it? Why do you visit the same place over and over? All the traveling, money spent on gear, researching locations, why?
In this story Joakim Jormelin talks about what drives the early mornings, the cold and rainy hikes, countless journeys to Norway, Iceland and within Sweden. As it turns out photography is just a small part of it all…
Why do you do it? A simple question with a complex answer. Besides the obvious health benefits and the need for relaxation and tuning out of today’s hectic society there are a few key factors that stand out. At least for me.
Besides from the obvious health benefits from being outdoor there are many reasons to love photography. . .
The learning curve and trying to perfect the result is of course a big driver and when striving for perfection there is almost always something to improve in every single shot you take. That’s why you can revisit a landscape hundreds of times and come back with almost endless variations. Some you’ll love and some you’ll discard on location. Sometimes when I’m out the camera doesn’t even leave the bag.
But you’ll most certainly always learn something new, experience something new or simply just have a good time in mother natures company.
Having fun in the Icelandic highlands
What I’ve discovered lately is that what I’m really collecting is moments frozen in time and stacked within me as joyfull memories. Well that’s pretty obvious you might think and you would be correct of course. I’ve always enjoyed photography and the journey however long or short it may have been it has always found a special place in my memory.
But I recently found something else, something deeper or to be correct I had forgotten the scale of it all. What I also rediscovered was the power each photo has to take you back in time and re-live the exact moment in time when the photo was taken. The funniest thing is that I stumbled upon this discovery by accident.
One evening a couple of weeks ago while editing some shots I realized that I skipped doing a reel to summarize the previous year on Instagram. At the time it was late February so I thought I’d just skip it, but then I got another idea:
What if I made a reel with all the places I’ve visited using my “selfies”?
With that idea in mind I started to sort through my archives in the hunt for shots of myself out and about. Every time I found a selfie I copied it to a working folder and for each photo I was taken on a journey down memory lane and I was feeling pretty good about myself. And as the folder started to swell a feeling of humbleness started to build up as I slowly realized how fortunate I’ve been to have visited all these fantastic places and to have experiences all these moments.
When I finally got to the present time of my archives I realized I have to pause and appreciate all the things I’ve seen more often. So the promise I make to myself for 2026 is to cherish the memories, that photography is a way to share and revisit the memories I’m collecting and that the support I’m getting from readers and followers is a great inspiration to collect more of them. I’m really glad to be on this journey with the support from all of you, hope you’ll keep tagging along.
Enjoying the view in Abisko national park in northern Sweden
Watching glaciers in Iceland
If you liked this little story, please let me know and give me a follow on instagram @joakimjormelin
