Living Vicariously Through the Eyes of a Camera

            Having just returned from a picturesque trip, I would like to share some disturbing observations about pictures. With the advent of the camera came a change in society. No longer would tangible likenesses of our experiences be limited to those with the time and resources to commission, or skills to produce, a transduction of that which is reflected in our eyes onto a medium that can be shared with others. And as technology has progressed, so has the availability of these cameras, and I mean that in two senses. The total number of persons possessing a camera has increased. But also, the repurposing of cellular phones to portable computers has resulted in nearly constant access to a camera. At any given time, you are likely capable of taking a picture, and this has led to certain consequences.

We take pictures of everything… and I mean EVERYTHING.

You go on vacation and visit a historical landmark. Naturally you would want to take a picture of something so impressive as this. But after you take your picture look around. Look at the other people visiting this landmark. Watch them take pictures of the landmark, yes, but also the sign denoting the landmark, the staircase leading up to the landmark, the cloud formation that has congregated in the horizon beyond the landmark, and the pigeon sitting upon the handrail lining the staircase leading up to the landmark. What is to become of these pictures? Do you really intend to return home and gather your closest friends to share with them your picture of a pigeon? A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. However, even the greatest picture is worthless amid a thousand others, as no one will take the time to find it.

Your incessant picture taking is infuriating to everyone else.

            In polite society, when someone is taking a photo, the courtesy is to walk around or wait until they finish so as not to disrupt their photo. This does not often come up in day to day life, though, and is therefore rarely an inconvenience. But when dozens of people are constantly stopping to take photos of themselves with everything they see, it creates real disruptions. When people are unable to even proceed due to your need to take photos no one will ever look at anyway, perhaps you should be the courteous one and move on.

You are living vicariously through the eyes of your camera.

            What do I mean by this? When your friend comes home from their trip and describes the wonderful sights they beheld in vivid detail you can almost imagine being their yourself. Vicariously you experience the wonder that they experienced firsthand. But in reality, they only experienced it secondhand. Again, watch people at these picturesque sights. They approach them, cameras at the ready. The mindset of our society has become so enveloped in taking pictures, that it proceeds even actually looking at the thing you are photographing.

No one takes in the actual experience of these wonderous sights, cultures, foods, exchanges, etc… They just take pictures. And when they return home to share their experiences with friends, they don’t tell them how overwhelmingly massive the cathedral was. how breathtaking it was to stand before beautiful mountain landscapes conceived purely by chance through the natural course of time, how simply enchanting it was to learn how to navigate a grocery store in a foreign country, how delicious a new combination of familiar foods could be, how enjoyable it was to empathize with a busy waiter… They just show you pictures.

            -AMS