In 2009, we are evermore a picture people. Despite my love for taking photographs, I oftentimes wonder why so many people love being in front of the lens so much. So many times, I've been approached with "Take my picture!" while out and about, yet with no request from the subject(s) to actually see it. Do those fifteen minutes in the [presumed] newspaper or magazine [that I don't even work for] really transcend the want for a freebie? Or do the same people, amongst millions, who both carry cameras and snap away simply love the process that much? Just Saturday, I was photographing a public event, and a couple of young, teenage girls made an effort to stop and pose every chance they saw me. "I love taking pictures," one of them said. Ironic for me to ask this perhaps, but why?
So many average people have cameras nowadays that we perhaps can't even fathom the number of photos taken each day. Some, like myself, have a passion that extends beyond a trend or a hobby, but that isn't the case for most. It's as if it extends beyond a simple individual want and into a fundamental human need. A famous Taiwanese film once alluded a character's thoughts which mentioned that man's life extended three-fold when he invented film, implying the notion that we are able to go places and experience things one wouldn't otherwise be able to in a single lifetime. People love photos because they want to hold on to reliving the memories that they love, and sharing in the love of the memory of others. People have an appreciation for capturing the moments in their lives without any aim at making it their profession, perhaps because we inherently become a better people because of it.
Some have said that the efforts of myself and other Photogs throughout the world is threatened by this rise in appreciation for mere moments. I see little threat here - I admire the appreciation. But I also label such moments "mere" because professional photographers look beyond the snapshot and into the soul of the story to be told. I am confident in what I do and will continue to grow as an artist. And as an artist - a preserver of memories and a painter of light - I will continue to aim for doing more than simply capturing life's moments. As an artist, I am honing my craft to capture the essence and infinite depth of potential that each moment's massive voice has to tell...and I trust that many will listen to what Crimson Fox has to share.
Monday, February 23, 2009
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Thank goodness Crimson Fox will be there for all of those who want their memories rendered cinematic, or something like that. Anyway, I want to add to your thoughts on why people seem to want their picture taken.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the introduction of cameras on cell phones makes it more comfortable for younger generations to take pictures at any time. Even request to have their picture taken without dressing up, brushing their hair, and putting on makeup. I don't think they are looking for therir 15 minutes of fame but just a chance to have their life mean something to someone. Kind of like a mini time capsule that all of a sudden people will look back and say, who is that? They were cool!
In the end, I believe its just that the population on the world is getting bigger and bigger and a person perspective on the insignificance of their life on the grand scale of things makes them want to at least relive moments where they felt like they made a difference to someone in the photo or something.
Quite frankly, I think camera phones are an instrument of the phenomenon, not the cause of it. I like the Fight Club reference, even if it is true only on a subconscious level. I even think some studies have at least implied that population growth has a correlation with a sense of being less connected with the world.
ReplyDeletePart of me wants to say that that drive to feel significant would theoretically be subdued quite a bit by the abundance of photographs being taken. But that might make the drive all the more intense, since "ya gotta have cool photos on your facebook" becomes more and more the subconscious social norm. High schools now probably have kids going on about so-and-so's pics that they posted last night; if you're not the talk of the facebook chatter then that's that many fewer cool points for you.