We are photographers!

We are not here to show people what they can already see. We are here to give them experiences they would otherwise never have experienced. We are here to preserve the moment that would have been forgotten and lost to time.

I love looking up photographer’s quotes about what they do because they really do think of their craft as something special and unique. I do this to implore myself to think of magic as something that is beyond convention.

It is a unique moment in time, a photo.

So I change the quote to this:

WE ARE MAGICIANS! We are NOT here to show people they can already see but here to give them an experience they would have otherwise never received. We are here to create a moment that would have never existed.

This will be my mantra for a while.

I like this in many ways - yet, could not the same "philosophy in live" apply to all interactions with another person? Or should?

Some immediate examples are: making a comment at a City Council Meeting, a first date, suggesting a song to be played, giving a toast.

Actually, this Mantra /could apply to postings on the Internet. "Will my comment create an experience the reader(s) might never have otherwise received - create a special moment?"

Against that idea is recognition that the rise in the apparent need of "entertain me" for our overpopulation is based in boredom and the inability to find 'awe & wonder' on one's own.
So, yes - a magician has the ability to do for person what they cannot or are unwilling to do. Challenge the impossible under conditions of risk - that of appearing foolish or being seen as an individual.

The very fact that you are willing to stand up before a crown of strangers and make a statement that imagination is more important than "going with the flow," you have already done something magical.
In this sense, any magic performed "in person" is good. The quality of presentation is only important in getting repeat bookings.

For decades I have worked to create or modify effect with a thought to enhancing the "30 year memory" of "must be magic." I am now prone to change my efforts to just
getting people out in person to actually "create a moment" for another person - magic, music, story-telling, dance.

You comments above a vote for this change.

as a further projection of your analogy, a good photographer works to "remove themselves from the scene" - to encourage people to act as if the photographer is not there. More than just "being natural" -
to act as if nothing exists besides the magic of the moment for the people involved. Creating "that moment" can be more important than the photo. For a magician, being able to create the condition under which magic is expected to occur can be more important than 'the trick." For those who might think that the "photo analogy" might extend to an Iphone snap of a magic act or a YouTube presentation accomplishing this I would say "no." Kodak once had registered and published "Photo Spots" around the world, a physical mark upon which a photographer could stand in order to get a "memorable shot." The ended this campaign when it was found that folk purchased post cards of the scene in preference to taking the photo themselves. Kodak had removed the "magic" of creating the memory in favor of "getting the best shot."

I love to watch a good perform on YouTube, but I do not find much magic there. The "best spot" for magic to occur is standing in front of a real person to allow their imagination to create the special moment.

Wow that was awesome Funsway!
This is something I like to do to remind myself to stay motivated to the craft and to my creativity.