A ghost in my camera

There’s a ghost in my camera who wants to come out.

When the lens is closed, she pushes against the cover. There’s much to capture! she shouts. So let me out!

Sometimes, the cover needs to stay closed. So she sits in the camera and waits. She’ll ask every now and again to come out, but I tell her to be patient. There’s exciting stuff coming, and we need to save the film. But she reminds me, There’s much life to capture! So let me out!

When it’s time to take photos, she’s ready to watch. To snap the best shot, to find the angle, to look at the world and the people within it. She takes photos of the birds and the trees. She takes photos of my husband and me.

Then the cover is closed, the film is developed. But still she shouts, There’s much world to capture! So let me out!

She travels the world, seeing the sights. Sometimes we only use her when the time feels right. But she’s always too eager to see what we do, so we give her the chance to look along, too.

Even after years have passed, moments preserved, and nature kept alive, she still shouts, There’s much life to live! So I take the ghost in my camera to show her a life beyond hers.

And live mine.