created memories.
A few months ago I went to this “party” that was pretty unique, but not in such a good way. Basically the party consisted of a bunch of people with little in common getting together, eating, drinking (non-alcoholic), and taking pictures. I was sitting on the couch just watching as dozens of flashes went off in succession when the bizarreness of it all just hit me. All around me people were creating memories, not capturing them. Instead of doing something fun then taking a quick snapshot of that event, taking pictures itself had became the event. As an analogy, like movie stars walking the red carpet, but not going in to the premiere/awards show…just there for the photos.
Since then, I’ve been observing this growing trend throughout American society. A few weeks ago we went to the Georgia Aquarium and I saw the same thing over and over…people coming up to the exhibits, taking photos, then walking away. I was flabbergasted…they weren’t even looking at what was right in front of them, other than to fit it into their frame and hide it away for later viewing – too busy to stop and smell the roses…they’d rather make a print at Wal-Mart.
I am a photo-enthusiast and have been a huge advocate of the “digital revolution”, but this is just too far. I thought removing the cost restrictions and the processing time of film would be a great step forward for the photography world, but I overlooked the zealousness of people to appear as if their life/vacation was more interesting/exciting than it actually is.
digital photography is not only killing film, it’s also killing the art of photography.
Does this mean I’m retreating to my film roots- no, but it does mean that I’m going to look a little harder before clicking the shutter and hopefully I’ll appreciate my photos as capturing the person/place/thing/time and not creating it.
you make a good point. sometimes i wish I could just have my own personal photographer so I could live in the moments and not have to worry about taking the photos. that would be weird to go some place and just have the photos from it but not remember seeing anything. on another note how is the georgia aquarium? better or worse then the newport aquarium?