When I was a teenager, I had this silly idea. I didn't really bother taking photos because I thought it was better to just see things myself instead of through a camera. I told myself, "I'd rather see it in real life than through a camera lens". I figured since my friends were always taking pictures, I could just get copies from them later on.
Turns out, that 'later' never really happened. Friends moved on, and now, I barely have any photos from back then, and my kids love looking at the old photos I do have. Capture everything, especially as it couldn't be easier now.
I went to a firework display last month and two teenagers in front of us stood side by side, both videoing the fireworks. Not just holding their phones up, they watched the entire display on their phone screen. Surely that's missing out on something?
When you realize taking photos of things that repeat or are static (like building and fireworks) doesn't make sense. Taking photos of family and friends and having people in context is what's important. Sure, if you're in a new place and want to capture some scenery, that's fine, but for example I have a bunch of photos from years ago without people in them that are basically meaningless now.
This happens are concerts. It's endemic and has spolit the event, globally. Recently I saw a film director talk and all phones were locked away. Everyone in the room (2000 people) got to hear, and see, what they'd come for. I wish more events would do this. I really do.
Looking from the other side, I was taking lots and lots of pictures for several years. Pretty much a go-to group-of-friends photographer.
I did my best to take pictures. So in many cases I was focused on taking pictures rather than participating. Pictures are nice and I know other people love having them. Which is nice. But sometimes I feel I missed out on some stuff being behind the lense.
Same for me and as I transitioned to being a father this really got me thinking. I want my son to have photos of his childhood but I also want to participate in it so the pendulum swings back and forth, it’s difficult to find the balance :D
Agreed. I have “lost years” from my twenties… not really lost of course but I looked so derisively upon the idiots with their selfie sticks, as I wandered around with my DSLR taking interestingly angled shots with absolutely no one I knew in them. It’s a fun hobby but in hindsight I think I had my priorities backwards. Every now and then I stumble across a photo I’m actually in and I’m shocked by how young I am.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the author of this piece was a college student at the time. I wonder if their perspective will change revisiting this article a decade or so later.
(as a parent I feel it a hundred times over. I want to be entirely present but already feel extreme nostalgia for the days my kids were younger and love to watch old videos. It’s a constant balancing act.)
I always felt uncomfortable both having photos taken as well as taking them, and as a result I also have very few photos to look back on.
My memory also kinda sucks. As I got really into Instagram, I became one of those annoying folks that was sticking the phone out everywhere to get a picture. I particularly liked snapping shots during music events. I convinced myself that this will help me remember what I’ve done and give me something to fondly look back on.
Flashing forward, neither of those things really came true. I rarely looked back at the photos (most of them were too poor of quality to be particularly useful), I was rarely in them, and it didn’t help memory much. Instead, I was mostly just seeking feedback and attention from social media peers, the event I thought I was commemorating was just grist for the mill. I found myself being more interested in collecting evidence of living my life to post than actually enjoying it.
I got rid of almost all social media a couple of years ago. I don’t miss it whatsoever. More to the point, I’ve become more aware of how disruptive this phenomenon is. For me, writing things down in a journal was way more effective for my memory and capturing context. I take less photos, keeping the phone put away until the end when I ask people for a quick group photo or two, but now the quality has gone up, I’m actually in them, and I’m not interrupting people by constantly sticking my phone in their face. Quality over quantity, IMO.
In my late teens, I accidentally formatted the wrong harddrive and erased hundreds of photos. Most of those photos were rubbish, blurry, and of things weren't important, or if they were, they aren't any more.
But amongst that hoard was some pictures of valuable memories, or places and people that no longer exist. I realised that I didn't have a single picture of my cat who passed away shortly after I lost all the pictures.
Now I don't take that many photos, and I don't let the activity of taking photos get in the way of any experience, but even the blurry crappy photos I make sure are thoroughly synced and then backed up.
Yea, taking a few photos really doesn’t take very long. ‘Loosing’ 3-5 minutes of a 3 day ski trip really isn’t much of a sacrifice.
Video is tricky. I find simply aiming in the right general direction without looking in the viewfinder means you get crappy video and can still stay in the moment. Then when watching it you kick of the actual memory even if the video isn’t that good.
It seems like there should be a balance between photograph nothing and capture everything. What I have been trying to do is: snap a few photos, then enjoy the rest of my time. If anything else noteworthy happens, I write a note about it using my note taking system (org-roam).
Yeah I think the optimal process is to take a quick photo and then put the camera away. Record the memory, then get back to living it.
I’ve also generally found that even bad photos are good enough for triggering memories, and so the important thing is to take a photo, any photo, and not obsess over the details. (At least for photos you’re primarily taking for personal reasons.)
Comments so far seem split 50/50 for and against taking of photos. I'll try to tip the scales towards "for": Just don't over do it! Get a phone that has a good camera, then use it to take 10-15 photos per day while traveling and 0-5 on a normal day. It's with you all the time anyway. If you're hauling your DSLR and tripod around you're missing the moment; if you take no photos your future self is missing the moment. And the best part is that looking at life with a slight lean towards "is this moment/scene/location special enough to capture" actually forces you to pay attention. I have more than a few nice pictures of every person I've even cared for and every amazing adventure I've ever been on. Hard to see that as a bad thing. Also, FYI, grew up in 70s/80s so have at most 20 pictures of my life between the ages of 0 and 20...that sucks.
I recently picked up a compact point and shoot (Sony ZV-1) as a secondary camera to my DSLR. It is pocketable, which makes it easy easier to carry around than my DSLR, and it is a higher quality camera than my phone (which is not the best anymore (S10) but is still quite good compared to more recent phones), with the added bonus of not being a tempting gateway to the Internet.
I got it because as someone currently in my mid 20s, I have never experienced being an adult without carrying a smart phone everywhere, and I want to experience that. I also don't want to lose the ability to take photos, nor do I want to lug my DSLR everywhere. So while the form factor makes it seem like a relic of 20 years ago, a point and shoot has been a great tool to add to my photography toolbelt.
I can understand the point of the article but I disagree that it is taking away from the experience it is documenting. Counterpoint: Life Logging. I remember reading a phenomenal book by @CStross called 'Rule 34' in which a policewoman essentially records everything she sees and hears, a sort of life logging. I found this to be fascinating and had hoped that it would be something I could use in the future. Record everything and not pay attention to it. Alas, it has not exactly worked out as I had hoped. Google Glass could have been that option but the reaction of many to being recorded was very, very negative.
Yet still others are trying with discreet cameras or an audio recorder, documenting life while still living life. Maybe in the future of Mr. Stross we will all have life logging.
> but the reaction of many to being recorded was very, very negative.
Rightly so.
The lives of others aren't just data for us to unilaterally collect, to the contrary of the "beg forgiveness" big data collection philosophy of the last few decades.
Ah you perhaps misunderstood me. Record everything, do not pay attention to the fact that it is recording, and experience life in the process. Put the camera down but let it continue to record.
Looking back on photos, what I found to be precious were photos of people. Photos of things (food, scenery, wild animals) have very little sentimental value looking back.
To each their own I guess. I really strongly value all my photos of all sorts of random stuff, as long as it brings back a memory of something I did or experienced.
I'm very slowly coming around to this realization myself. I dont post but take a lot of pictures when I travel.
Now there are some landscape photos I have taken and love and frame. But the pictures I cherish the most are the blurry, silly pictures of my friends and I.
I deeply regret not photographing more when I was young, and I appear to have lost a lot of the few things I did photograph - very possibly because I was on extreme budgets and my first camera wasn't great, and my second had a fatal flaw that I never really fixed after 10 years of owning it (it was a Canon T70 that didn't always engage the aperture mechanism)
Taking the title completely literally, I still find with modern AI and expensive phone cameras that it's still difficult to accurately capture colour as we experience it.
I tried to share a picture of some fabric samples get an opinion from someone. From the display, most of the samples looked correct except one - a deep turqoise that the camera would refuse to capture no matter what exposure or white balance I chose.
I remember browsing through a pantone book (I think) and how all the colours would react to the tiniest change to ambient light, something you'd need a spectrometer to properly capture. Displays and cameras have been getting higher and higher resolutions, but the fedility in which we can capture and display colour doesn't seem to have improved in the last 10 years.
I agree with most of the commenters here. I’ll share my anecdote.
Years ago I travelled to Florida to watch the final shuttle launch. I had a little hand held video camera and planned on catching the entire thing on video. I was thinking it would be something I’d watch forever.
the launch starts and I’ve got the shot framed perfectly. A few seconds later I look up front the viewfinder and was completely overwhelmed by what I saw.
I promptly put the camera down and let the magnitude of the launch wash over me.
I’ve taken two major lessons from this experience.
First, shuttle launches were amazing feats of human engineering and the power of a launch was breathtaking.
Second, live in the moment, then capture memories when convenient but don’t let that interfere with the experience.
The final shuttle launch seems like the perfect example of what to not film. It's surely captured by professional broadcasters, available for free forever, with every amateur filming kind-of unnecessary.
One blurry photo of Christmas as an eight-year old prompts me to relive the experience and to browse through my memories and associated feelings. It's like a window through time.
On the other hand, several hundred images taken during a vacation have the opposite effect, almost like they dull the experience. Been there, done that, seen all the photos!
Readit News
Turns out, that 'later' never really happened. Friends moved on, and now, I barely have any photos from back then, and my kids love looking at the old photos I do have. Capture everything, especially as it couldn't be easier now.
I went to a firework display last month and two teenagers in front of us stood side by side, both videoing the fireworks. Not just holding their phones up, they watched the entire display on their phone screen. Surely that's missing out on something?
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I did my best to take pictures. So in many cases I was focused on taking pictures rather than participating. Pictures are nice and I know other people love having them. Which is nice. But sometimes I feel I missed out on some stuff being behind the lense.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the author of this piece was a college student at the time. I wonder if their perspective will change revisiting this article a decade or so later.
(as a parent I feel it a hundred times over. I want to be entirely present but already feel extreme nostalgia for the days my kids were younger and love to watch old videos. It’s a constant balancing act.)
My memory also kinda sucks. As I got really into Instagram, I became one of those annoying folks that was sticking the phone out everywhere to get a picture. I particularly liked snapping shots during music events. I convinced myself that this will help me remember what I’ve done and give me something to fondly look back on.
Flashing forward, neither of those things really came true. I rarely looked back at the photos (most of them were too poor of quality to be particularly useful), I was rarely in them, and it didn’t help memory much. Instead, I was mostly just seeking feedback and attention from social media peers, the event I thought I was commemorating was just grist for the mill. I found myself being more interested in collecting evidence of living my life to post than actually enjoying it.
I got rid of almost all social media a couple of years ago. I don’t miss it whatsoever. More to the point, I’ve become more aware of how disruptive this phenomenon is. For me, writing things down in a journal was way more effective for my memory and capturing context. I take less photos, keeping the phone put away until the end when I ask people for a quick group photo or two, but now the quality has gone up, I’m actually in them, and I’m not interrupting people by constantly sticking my phone in their face. Quality over quantity, IMO.
But amongst that hoard was some pictures of valuable memories, or places and people that no longer exist. I realised that I didn't have a single picture of my cat who passed away shortly after I lost all the pictures.
Now I don't take that many photos, and I don't let the activity of taking photos get in the way of any experience, but even the blurry crappy photos I make sure are thoroughly synced and then backed up.
Video is tricky. I find simply aiming in the right general direction without looking in the viewfinder means you get crappy video and can still stay in the moment. Then when watching it you kick of the actual memory even if the video isn’t that good.
There are better memories to be had if you have someone to share with.
I’ve also generally found that even bad photos are good enough for triggering memories, and so the important thing is to take a photo, any photo, and not obsess over the details. (At least for photos you’re primarily taking for personal reasons.)
I got it because as someone currently in my mid 20s, I have never experienced being an adult without carrying a smart phone everywhere, and I want to experience that. I also don't want to lose the ability to take photos, nor do I want to lug my DSLR everywhere. So while the form factor makes it seem like a relic of 20 years ago, a point and shoot has been a great tool to add to my photography toolbelt.
Yet still others are trying with discreet cameras or an audio recorder, documenting life while still living life. Maybe in the future of Mr. Stross we will all have life logging.
Edit: Here is a more Work Safe link of the book series via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_State
Rightly so.
The lives of others aren't just data for us to unilaterally collect, to the contrary of the "beg forgiveness" big data collection philosophy of the last few decades.
Take pictures of people, not things.
Now there are some landscape photos I have taken and love and frame. But the pictures I cherish the most are the blurry, silly pictures of my friends and I.
I don't know how to balance it.
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I tried to share a picture of some fabric samples get an opinion from someone. From the display, most of the samples looked correct except one - a deep turqoise that the camera would refuse to capture no matter what exposure or white balance I chose.
I remember browsing through a pantone book (I think) and how all the colours would react to the tiniest change to ambient light, something you'd need a spectrometer to properly capture. Displays and cameras have been getting higher and higher resolutions, but the fedility in which we can capture and display colour doesn't seem to have improved in the last 10 years.
Years ago I travelled to Florida to watch the final shuttle launch. I had a little hand held video camera and planned on catching the entire thing on video. I was thinking it would be something I’d watch forever.
the launch starts and I’ve got the shot framed perfectly. A few seconds later I look up front the viewfinder and was completely overwhelmed by what I saw.
I promptly put the camera down and let the magnitude of the launch wash over me.
I’ve taken two major lessons from this experience.
First, shuttle launches were amazing feats of human engineering and the power of a launch was breathtaking.
Second, live in the moment, then capture memories when convenient but don’t let that interfere with the experience.
One blurry photo of Christmas as an eight-year old prompts me to relive the experience and to browse through my memories and associated feelings. It's like a window through time.
On the other hand, several hundred images taken during a vacation have the opposite effect, almost like they dull the experience. Been there, done that, seen all the photos!
It's also fun to explore alternative methods of recording your experiences, writing them down in a journal, doodling, etc.