Put the camera down!
Say “cheese” everyone! Now I am one to like cheese. But picture taking on the other hand… not so much. It’s not that there is anything inherently wrong with a little picture taking, but this generation has gone so picture crazy it’s driving me mad. I’m just not buying into it. Let me explain what I mean.
The whole picture concept is a little strange to me. Really, what you are doing when taking a picture is this: You are suspending the present (in order to take the picture, everyone has to stop what they are doing, if not everyone, at least you have to) so that in the future (when you look at the picture), you enjoy the past (the moment the picture represents). So really, your focus is on everything but the present; which is the only thing that’s real. When you take a picture, you take it for the future. When you look at a picture you look at the past. Both are fluff. One might not even exist. The other is long gone.
Secondly, it seems the more we progress, the more picture taking we do. Everyone has a camera. Every cell phone comes with one. There are video cameras, digital cameras, all kinds of cameras. Most people even own one of each. I remember even my 10 year old cousin wanted a camera for her birthday! Everyone just wants to always take pictures all the time. And God forbid we ever go somewhere without a camera. Oh no! That’s just horrible. Now we have to drive all the way back to pick it up. If it’s too far we actually might consider buying another one. I mean we could always have one more camera.
The worst part about all this is that we often even take it to the next level. We ruin the moment we are trying to capture in order to capture it. That drives me crazy. How many times has this happened to you? You are with old friends or family. You are full of excitement and energy. Everyone is laughing and talking and making jokes. Then out of nowhere, to your ears’ utter dismay, some loser camera guy yells out “let’s take a picture everyone, yeah!!” Now as soon as you realize what that means you know the next 20 min are going to be excruciating. Firstly, you have to stop everyone from doing what they’re having such a good time doing; the very thing that makes this moment worthy to be captured. Then, you have to get everybody organized to fit in the view of the camera. If you have kids or whatever, good luck with that. Finally, or at least you think its “finally”, they take the picture. And as soon as everyone starts to disperse, someone else yells “wait, wait, take one with my camera”. Now everyone with a camera wants in. One camera doesn’t work, the other one’s flash didn’t trigger. Someone has to go pee, a baby is crying. Aw for goodness sakes!!
But that’s not all. We’re even crazier than that. This one is my favorite. Sometimes, we’re so caught up in this picture taking business, that the moment we’re trying to capture gets ruined because we can’t capture it! We’re in a beautiful moment, but because we realize we can’t capture it, we get so flustered that we ruin everything. “Oh Wow, my 8 month old nephew is walking. That’s so cute… so precious! Quickly, get the camera!!... Where is the camera??!! NOOOO, We forgot it??! We forgot the camera! HOW COULD YOU FORGET THE CAMERA! WHY DID YOU FORGET THE CAMERA! IT WAS AT THE DOOR, I PUT IT RIGHT THERE! THIS IS JUST SO STUPID!! AWWW MAN!! David just stop walking and leave me alone, I’m trying to find the camera. WHAT IS THIS… CRAP!”. The effects are the same in the case of dead batteries, no memory space and camera malfunctions. The very moment we are trying to capture is ruined because we can’t capture it
Why don’t we just enjoy the moment for what it is. And in the future, instead of trying to borrow from the past, let’s look to make more special moments. Ones that are even better than the those of the past. The past is gone. Press onward. Live life in all its abundance, in the “now”. Run this race with your family and friends each day for itself. And in the end, say “cheese”… for a photo finish.
The whole picture concept is a little strange to me. Really, what you are doing when taking a picture is this: You are suspending the present (in order to take the picture, everyone has to stop what they are doing, if not everyone, at least you have to) so that in the future (when you look at the picture), you enjoy the past (the moment the picture represents). So really, your focus is on everything but the present; which is the only thing that’s real. When you take a picture, you take it for the future. When you look at a picture you look at the past. Both are fluff. One might not even exist. The other is long gone.
Secondly, it seems the more we progress, the more picture taking we do. Everyone has a camera. Every cell phone comes with one. There are video cameras, digital cameras, all kinds of cameras. Most people even own one of each. I remember even my 10 year old cousin wanted a camera for her birthday! Everyone just wants to always take pictures all the time. And God forbid we ever go somewhere without a camera. Oh no! That’s just horrible. Now we have to drive all the way back to pick it up. If it’s too far we actually might consider buying another one. I mean we could always have one more camera.
The worst part about all this is that we often even take it to the next level. We ruin the moment we are trying to capture in order to capture it. That drives me crazy. How many times has this happened to you? You are with old friends or family. You are full of excitement and energy. Everyone is laughing and talking and making jokes. Then out of nowhere, to your ears’ utter dismay, some loser camera guy yells out “let’s take a picture everyone, yeah!!” Now as soon as you realize what that means you know the next 20 min are going to be excruciating. Firstly, you have to stop everyone from doing what they’re having such a good time doing; the very thing that makes this moment worthy to be captured. Then, you have to get everybody organized to fit in the view of the camera. If you have kids or whatever, good luck with that. Finally, or at least you think its “finally”, they take the picture. And as soon as everyone starts to disperse, someone else yells “wait, wait, take one with my camera”. Now everyone with a camera wants in. One camera doesn’t work, the other one’s flash didn’t trigger. Someone has to go pee, a baby is crying. Aw for goodness sakes!!
But that’s not all. We’re even crazier than that. This one is my favorite. Sometimes, we’re so caught up in this picture taking business, that the moment we’re trying to capture gets ruined because we can’t capture it! We’re in a beautiful moment, but because we realize we can’t capture it, we get so flustered that we ruin everything. “Oh Wow, my 8 month old nephew is walking. That’s so cute… so precious! Quickly, get the camera!!... Where is the camera??!! NOOOO, We forgot it??! We forgot the camera! HOW COULD YOU FORGET THE CAMERA! WHY DID YOU FORGET THE CAMERA! IT WAS AT THE DOOR, I PUT IT RIGHT THERE! THIS IS JUST SO STUPID!! AWWW MAN!! David just stop walking and leave me alone, I’m trying to find the camera. WHAT IS THIS… CRAP!”. The effects are the same in the case of dead batteries, no memory space and camera malfunctions. The very moment we are trying to capture is ruined because we can’t capture it
Why don’t we just enjoy the moment for what it is. And in the future, instead of trying to borrow from the past, let’s look to make more special moments. Ones that are even better than the those of the past. The past is gone. Press onward. Live life in all its abundance, in the “now”. Run this race with your family and friends each day for itself. And in the end, say “cheese”… for a photo finish.
posted by Mark at 7:10 PM
5 Comments:
Congrats Mark. You lived up to the challenge. Also,you provided some definite light towards to the the picture taking phenomenon. From now on, I will be fearful and hesitant when taking my camera out, or just perfect the live shot and abolish the pose. Perhaps progress can be made and picture taking can overall be a good experience. Who knows. Thanks for the 3 minutes of ammusement. Keep the coming.
I completely disagree Mark. As people say pictures are worth a thousand words. Technology has brought us so far that we can document every precious moment that passes us by. Whether it's weddings, graduations, or just some random night with friends we can capture the moment allowing it to live on forever. I love walking into houses and office spaces and seeing pictures sprawled all over the walls of family and friends, or even posting pics on MSN is great and allows us to share and display our lives.
Also, for example, if I went to Europe I would want to take pictures of all of the amazing sites and be glad that I can remember them...even when I'm old.
I love looking back at old photo albums and just reminising old times and past memories. You can literally go back to that moment and relive it and laugh at how young or different the people in the picture looked. I agree with living in the moment but capturing the memory of that particular moment is priceless, may we all take more pictures!
I have to agree with Dave. Pictures are precious and can trigger so many memories that we would otherwise have forgotten.
It's a similar idea to journaling or letter writting, you capture a moment in time that you can reflect on later and either see what's changed, what's the same and simply be grateful for the life you've lived thus far.
Pictures are a great gift, no matter how inconvenient the poses can be - memories of that alone can be laughed at later!
Keep clicking those camera buttons!
Of course we enjoy looking back at old pictures. The issue isn't weather we enjoy it or not. The issue is should we enjoy it or not (or to what degree it should be enjoyed).
I argue that we shouldn't invest as much time and effort as we currently do to try and re-enjoy the moments. Instead, let's make new moments and enjoy NOW. I don't want to go back and re-live that moment. It was beautiful but now it's gone. There is no use trying to pretend it isn’t. Now, I want another moment even better than the last one.
Also, it’s not fair to compare journaling to picture taking. Journaling is beneficial even if you don't look back at it. It helps you gather your thoughts and exercise them. Picture taking helps you gather useless photo albums that you will almost never look at and exercise your thumbs.
What up mark, it's Nathan. I enjoyed your blog.
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