Is it right, to take, or to make photographs?

I've often wondered why sometimes, language used for image making often has an acquisitional aspect to it. Words such as capture, or  to take an image resonate with me in a rather negative way.

I was asked once, why I always seem to say that I make photographs, not take them. I hadn't been aware of my own language, but after some time thinking about it, I know why I use the word make.

Firstly, there is the sense that I am creating something, rather than pointing my camera at something and just copying what is there. To take a photograph suggests I'm copying what is already there, and this is perhaps a terrible mindset to be in. Our mindset being an important part of the picture making process (not picture taking process).

Secondly, I don't go making images so that I have a collection. I am not a collector, and the idea that I take an image, suggests stealing a moment. It suggests ownership of something that was not mine and never can be. It suggests the habit of a collector, rather than someone who is in empathy with his surroundings and wishes to work with it, rather than at it.

Thirdly, taking implies possession; possession implies a sense of oneself being superior to the landscape. It suggests a lack of respect for what is around me, and someone who is not receptive to what the landscape is. It implies a lack of emotional connection.

I make images. They are creations based upon what I saw and appreciated in reality.

I enjoy my time outside, listening to the sounds of the wind and rain, watching atmospheric conditions come and go. I feel very much in empathy with my surroundings. Like a camper who, once done 'leaves only footprints', I have the utmost respect for the places I make images of. I like to think of my images as being an interpretation of the places i've experienced. I can't take the landscape's spirit. I can only represent it, in the form of art that I make.

Perhaps this feels to you as if I'm splitting hairs. But isn't it true that, often it's the small things that matter, and by having the mindset that I do have, I feel I'm able to abstract my creations away from the landscapes they represent. I'm able to understand that what I do, is an interpretation of what was before my eyes, not a verbatim recording of it.

It's an important point, I feel.