You’re out on a walk on the beach down the road from your house. The sand beneath your bare feet sticks to your skin like chocolate sprinkles on a cupcake. Your camera, slung around your neck, bounces against your stomach as you squint at something in the distance. As you get nearer, you realise it’s a pelican and you get ready to take that shot.

Wait a minute… take that shot. Take implies carrying something away with you, or physically removing an object and making off with it. And then of course there’s the word shot. This is typically used when referring to guns, and bullets.

Why do we talk about photos like this? I do have a theory, but I don’t know if it’s legitimate.

It’s common for human beings to exploit their environment, and to use more resources than necessary to the point of harming or annihilating nature. We pollute the air, dump things in the ocean, kill animals for purposes other than for food, and generally don’t take care of the world around us. On a less serious level, if you see a wildflower you like when you’re walking through a forest, you might pick it… and take it with you. Or (and this is serious), you might spot a deer in the wild, shoot it, and take it home with you to display as a “trophy”.

It’s all about human beings wanting to "possess" the Wild, a vulgar and greedy wish to say the very least.

Rather than taking a wildflower or shooting a deer, though, why not take a photograph of them? It’s much less destructive. It’s also beneficial to the wider world. You can display the photos for a greater purpose, such as encouraging the protection of wild animals and admiration for wildflowers (where they are found). Plus, they last longer; that flower you take with you will probably start wilting as you make your way back home.

Other words commonly used in photography or the editing of photos include snapshot and manipulation. Take a look at the definition for snap, as seen on [link] “to make a sudden, sharp, distinct sound; crack, as a whip; crackle”. The whip part is what I find interesting. A whip is what you use to control an animal, to bend it to your will. There it is again. Humans trying to possess and control the Wild. And here’s the definition for manipulation, from the same site: “exerting shrewd or devious influence, especially for one's own advantage”. Humans are always exploiting nature - for their own advantage. We clear forests to make more room for properties on the coast so that people will have better views. We train wild lions in zoos for amusement.

The good news, though is that taking a snapshot and manipulating it later does not harm an animal or destroy the natural world. We should be encouraging art, and discouraging hunting and collecting of flowers and other natural objects.

And one more term I find interesting; capture. As in “Nice capture!” Does that need any explaining? We capture birds and breed them for our own pleasure, we cage them. We capture elephants and force them to live in enclosures.

Once again though, capturing a photograph does not constrict a bird, nor does it enclose an elephant in a too-small cage.

I find the language we use when taking photos fascinating, but I completely endorse photography as a means of preserving nature and saving it from harm. Last generation was about clearing forests and killing whales. Our generation should be about art, and keeping the Earth beautiful for the future. You can make a difference, no matter how small. As Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”