Photography does not involve any difficult techniques, and for that reason, it makes no sense to practice it extensively. However, the practice that a photographer engages in has many layers. First of all, a cultivated life means better photography. Thus, cultivation is a personal journey, which everyone must tend to for themselves, adapting it to their needs and temperament. A cultivated life is evident in the photographs, as Walker Evans used to say. Secondly, one must live. If one does not live and is only devoted to photography, they will have nothing to put into their photographs. That’s why T.S. Eliot, the poet, once responded to a young man who said, "I live for poetry," with "what a sad life." No one lives for photography. Because they live, they have something to put into the photograph. Furthermore, one must know the Photography that came before them. If they are unaware of it, they will not know what they are building upon, where they draw inspiration from, what they want to surpass, what new elements they want to introduce. However, photography alone is not enough. One must also know other arts, or at least those that draw their interest, that they enjoy. And one might gain more from another art form than from studying only photography. Lastly, and most importantly, one must enjoy the photographic process. They should enjoy taking photographs and not just chase the outcome, which is usually disappointing. The pleasure comes from the process, and the process ensures potential quality. Should one be inspired? No one knows when inspiration exists, when it will come. And if there is inspiration, it comes when you work correctly, methodically, with enthusiasm. Now, some speak of talent. Obviously, some people have talent and others do not to the same extent, but that should not concern us, because we all have the hope, or even a secret certainty, that we possess a degree of talent and simultaneously an equally large secret certainty that we do not. Therefore, since it cannot be measured, let us forget it. After all, we have all seen many talented individuals who do not produce work and many not-so-talented ones, through persistence and method, who do produce work. Finally, does intelligence matter? Of course, it matters as in any human creation. However, the intelligence related to art is not an IQ-type intelligence. It is a complex, composite, mysterious intelligence that is greatly related to sensitivity. Thus, a cultivated life, study of the arts, enjoyment of the arts, and, chiefly, joy in the process of photography are essential.