The Harmony Between Music and Photography: A Shared Language of Emotion
Two of my biggest loves are music and photography and yes I do one very well but the other I’m just a fan of. I am learning the guitar and I DJ a little bit, In the house lol. I’ve been in studios when some of the hits that are on your playlist were produced so I appreciate what goes in to it. On the surface, music and photography couldn’t seem more different. One is sound, the other is sight. But at their core, they’re the same. They both exist to make us feel. They’re like two languages that say the same thing in different ways, reaching deep into us to stir up emotions we sometimes don’t even have words for.
Think about music for a second. One song can change your whole mood. A single note can give you chills, and a melody can carry you back to a moment in your life so vividly it’s like you’re living it all over again. Photography works the same way. A single image can stop you in your tracks, make your heart ache, fill you with wonder, or remind you of someone you truly love.
For me, photography is a lot like composing a piece of music. A musician has notes and rhythms, I have light and shadows. A musician layers sounds to create feeling, and I do the same with the elements in my frame. Every photo I take or every shoot I approach, I’m asking, What do I want someone to feel when they see this?
And just like a song, a photo doesn’t come with a set meaning or rules for interpertation. What you feel when you look at it depends on who you are, where you’ve been, and what you bring to it. That’s one of the most beautiful things about both music and photography, they don’t just tell my story. They let you find your own story in them too.
What really ties these two art forms together, is the process. Musicians talk about getting lost in the music, and I feel the same when I’m behind the camera. You have to fall in love with the subject, with the enviroment. The way the light falls just right, the anticipation of seeing an image develop, those are the moments that remind me why I love what I do. It’s not just about the final product, it’s about connecting and feeling something as I create it.
That’s something I want to explore this upcoming year. I’m working on pairing my images and photo stories with music, curating a playlist that amplifies the emotion in each photo. I want people to not just see the images but to feel them, to let the music and visuals work together to pull them into a story.
At the end of the day, that’s what both music and photography are about, connection. They remind us what it means to feel deeply, to be human. And in a world where it’s so easy to numb ourselves to everything, I think that’s one of the most important gifts any art can give us.
Again, thank you for taking the time rocking out with me.
Greg Johnson
