The Blessing and Curse of Photos Now-a-Days

I once went to a familiar museum with a friend expecting a nice afternoon of strolling, looking, and eating. I left traumatized. At every exhibit or turn of the corner, a picture needed to be taken. At first, I thought it was humorous - my friend was so enamored she had to memorialize everything I felt mundane. Then, a couple hours later, I felt itching to get out of our photo-taking prison. The museum was huge, but with our photo-taking frenzy we had only stumbled through the first floor! It was as if the camera - the thing meant to capture our memories - had usurped the moment.

I'm guilty of this too. I went to Seaworld with my family, and though my family can recall things like the spray of the dolphins or the smell of the popcorn, I can only recall looking through the tiny screen in my camcorder and trying not to trip as I walked.

It got me thinking about our photo taking habits compared to those in the past.

Photos Now-a-days

I took these pictures because I was bored and I kept on taking pictures because I didn't like my smile. This is why my phone is flooded with retakes.

The convenient and data-efficient phone-cameras now-a-days create an atmosphere for photo/video flooding. Now when we seek to capture a moment, we not only capture it once, but from many different angles. Being able to see the photo digitally, moments after it was taken, has made me develop some vanity issues. If my hair is off or I've smiled a little too wide, I want to fix it right away and take another picture. This drives my husband crazy, and by the time we're in the photo op 3-4 pictures, everyone has become more posed but less genuine.

Selfies are convenient, but the photo quality goes down. I cringe when I see people taking a selfie in front of a beautiful vista because their face will be covering half the frame. If you are taking a selfie to show your face, okay. If you are taking a selfie to capture an event in your life or a location, consider asking a human being for help.

Negatives aside (haha), there is a undeniable benefit to cameras now-a-days. Everyone has their phone with them, so you are able to capture spur-of-the-moment photos or videos. My favorite video is my husband reading a book to Simon and for some odd reason that day, Simon would not stop laughing. I was only able to catch his infectious laugh because my phone was right by me. Never again, would he laugh like that at this book.

Photos A Long Time Ago

This is a picture of my father when he was 11 or 12. 

People have been formally photographed since the 1800s. Initially, exposure times were very long, so subjects had to stay very still - a big reason why early portraits don't show people smiling. When photography became more quicker and accessible, it still wasn't very cheap, so one might only have a few photos per year taken. The resulting photograph is a portrait that offers little clues to who this person actually was. The personality in the photo is gone. 

When I see black and white photos of my ancestors from long ago, I feel like I'm looking in through a long narrow window. I yearn to reach in and communicate with the person in the photo, but with their formal stances and still faces, I am reaching from behind a wall. 

My mother is standing on the right; she was 5 years old. 

Photos From Not That Long Ago

My favorite photos are photos from my childhood – when it was all done on film and taken to a lab to be processed. The camera was convenient enough to be taken out for less formal events – the kids playing together in the bedroom, my mom teaching me how to brush my teeth, etc.  – but not convenient enough to photograph fluff that people find themselves capturing today – like your breakfast or your manicure. 

The time the photos were taken had meaning. I could easily ask my mom, "When was this?" And my mom could answer back, "Oh, it was that one time we went to such-and-such National Park." Now-a-days, if my daughter were to ask me the same question about half the photos in my phone, I'd say, "I'm not sure. It was when I was bored."

I love the feeling I get when looking at these photos from not that long ago. In a time where photos were truly just a snap and then you moved on with life, you can sense the moment captured and you can feel enveloped in it. There is a lot you can divulge from these intimate moments - like how proud my father was to be standing in front of his first house, or how carefree I was as I impishly grinned from behind a tree. 

I like how the kids aren't really posing in this picture, it's like they could barely be corralled for a few seconds before splitting off again. Also, I like how my mom is inadvertently choking me. Perhaps I was the most hyper and needed the most control. 

My mom and dad, standing in front of their first house.

This is what photos are for, to capture a time and place and leave it undisturbed. Let the moment be the main focus, and not the camera. I think our photos now-a-days can be like these photos from not that long ago, if we allow the mindset to change.

Just my thoughts. What about you?