Anyone can be a photographer these days. All it takes is the touch of a screen, a few slides of an editing app, and bang-- everyone praises you for you work. A post on Instagram and a couple of hashtags can get you your fifteen minutes of fame in the form of 100+ likes and 20 comments.

In one way, it's cool how accessible photography has become; but in another way, it's taken away from the art of photography. Photography is about more than just the final product. It's about the experience: the process of taking the photo, the story behind it, and the soul you put into it. It's not about the likes, t's about sharing day-to-day life through your art. It's about capturing a perspective in a different way than everyone else. It's about sharing a message or invoking an emotion through your work. Photography is art, it's soul, it's catharsis.

I'm always slightly hesitant when people dub themselves a "photographer". I have no right to shut down someone's label, but I question it. Do they pour their heart and soul into their work, or do they do it for social media? Do they think of photography as art, or as something just anyone can do? Sure, anyone can pick up a camera or a phone and take an in-focus picture of a sunset, but is that really what constitutes a photographer? In a way, social media has ruined the art of photography.

"Do it for the 'gram," they say. Is it only about the views, the likes, and the comments? If that's your motivation for your art, perhaps you should rethink the term "photographer" when describing yourself. A photographer shoots for themselves as a way to express raw emotion and experience catharsis, just as a painter paints or a singer writes a song. All forms of art are one in the same, and if art is done to please others or for praise, then I propose that it's not really art.

By no means am I a professional photographer, but I've worked hard to get to where I am today. I got my first camera in 6th grade, an old point-and-shoot that was my father's before me. I shot everything with that camera-- flowers, animals, buildings, people-- if it piqued my interest, I took a picture. I ended up leaving it at a McDonald's in Times' Square, so there's no telling what those pictures actually looked like.

Later in life, I got a Cannon Elph-- a step up from my first camera. My Elph really inspired my love of photography. I took pictures of my friends, my vacations, and even tried self-timer shots of myself. Soon after, I upgraded to a slightly better version of a point-and-shoot. I could adjust functions, use different shooting modes, and thus began to create my art. Some of my favorite photos to date were taken on that camera.

Now, I shoot on a Cannon Rebel T5, a DSLR. My camera is not what makes me a photographer: it's the heart and soul I put into my work, it's chasing sunsets and birds and people to get just the right shot, it's the time and effort I put into curating my work before I share it. A lot of my teenage life has been dedicated to my hobby and my art, and pursuing something that I love.

Passion, heart, and soul is what makes a photographer. I challenge each and every one of you to become a true photographer. Put your heart and soul into your work, and see what you get out of it. I promise, it'll be more than just likes.