One day, an unexpected email arrived from National Geographic. It was an inquiry about one of the photographs I had submitted. I looked into it half in doubt, and it seemed clear that the sender was indeed a National Geographic curator.
The message said that a photograph I had submitted on February 8, 2015 might soon be featured as "Photo of the Day", although the exact date had not yet been decided. It was a feature in which a curator selected one image from the thousands submitted each day from around the world and introduced it on their website as that day's photograph. Perhaps it was something like Man of the Match, but since only one photograph was chosen each day worldwide, the gate was narrow. Their selection criteria were not public, so even now I do not know why my photograph was chosen. Still, there was no doubt that it was an honor, and I was delighted.
Then, on March 10, it was published as "Glooming Youg".
Photographed on December 4, 2014, at Jigokudani, Nagano Prefecture.
The response was enormous. It was posted on National Geographic's Facebook page, where the number of views reached tens of millions. Many websites also reposted it without permission.
I had started submitting photographs to National Geographic because a photographer I happened to meet on Facebook recommended it. I think the idea was that, by posting my own work and seeing the photographs of others, my eye for photography would naturally develop.
That photographer later went on to work professionally. He also recommended a camera from a certain manufacturer, and I decided to buy one. He later told me that he had been about to sign with that maker at the time. Today, he collaborates with the manufacturer, and his work can be seen on its website.
Being selected for Photo of the Day through that submission drew me deeply into photography and the act of making photographs.
