So I took a recent family vacation to Florida, filled with the mega-branding of Disney and Universal Studios and all that jazz, and it reminded me of something which often bugs me on vacations, where ever I go.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR CAMERA.
Specimen A
Now this isn’t some professional image. It’s one of the rare images my husband or I took on a trip to Rome in 2009. I had to hunt and peck to find it. We don’t take many photos while traveling. I’ll get to the reason in a moment. Note above the woman outlined in red viewing the architecture of the basilica around her through the viewfinder. Note the man outlined in green simply taking in the experience, absorbing every detail in the moment.
Yeah. That.
Needless to say, we took under 10 pictures in total to our recent trip to Florida. I’m guesstimating here. In Italy we took a few more, mostly because I’m an archeology hound and when we hit Pompeii I went nuts. Still, the camera has it’s time and place. I understand the need we have to share moments with others, I do my fair share, certainly. That’s fine and dandy. However, don’t forget to live in the moment yourself first.
Wait, what? Did you hear me?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed families or groups of people shuttled from place to place, so intent to get the ‘perfect photo op’ that they forget to actually immerse themselves in the experience the location offers. I’ve also had the annoying relative along on a vacation who demands we stop every five minutes and gather for a pose.
You can guess how well this works on me. 😉 I do not pose *well*. If I’m smelling the flowers of a tree I’ll never see again, taking in the view of fuming Vesuvius, or tracing a wild grape-vine under my fingertips at the Tarxien Temple on Malta, no, I’m sorry, but you can take the picture as is, wait, or get over yourselves. Yes, I will give you a few poses per vacation. YES! But I refuse to pose. I feign ignorance and keep doing my own thing, lost in my own little world. I’m absolutely impossible, I assure you! 😉
There’s a value to putting the fucking camera down and then running off after the butterfly and finding the coatimundi a foot off the beaten path when you’re trekking around in Mexico. This value is called a real actual experience between you and the divine now. You can’t make it up or fabricate it or generate it on a whim. It happens as life plays out, every second of every day. And if you’re not paying attention, then it’s your loss. You can’t get a rain check or a make up day. Once it’s gone that’s it. Game over.
That day hubby and I went whale watching and the whales blew us off but a pod of dolphins came along and swam and cavorted along our boat? Fabulous! My hand skimmed the water and my eyes met the lead dolphin’s. A second later it rammed our tiny boat and I almost went flying into the water, and I know it was on purpose, that stinker! I remember a woman behind me who was so proud she’d caught the dolphin on video (lording it over me) because I hadn’t even been trying. What she missed was I had this incredible interaction with a wild, highly intelligent creature who’d invited me in a rather rough way to come out and play. I was laughing my head off. I loved it. She looked down her nose at my poor foresight, as clearly I’d never fully be able to share this experience with others without film.
People like that I want to coat in paint and force to eat snails and drink dandelion wine. All for fun, mind you. Sometimes I do weird things for fun.
Mind you, I’m not dissing photography. It’s a wonderful art, and what’s key is those artists live in the moment first, and then find the synergy of elements that make a great picture out of what they love about the setting. For us tourists, those of us passing through a place for the first time, I think it behooves us to saturate our senses with the touch, smell, taste, sight, and feel of a space to truly know it and recall later.
A picture alone doesn’t do all that for me. I have to soak the place in first.
Try it for yourself. Put the camera down, and move beyond the role of tourist in your own life.
My wife and I took a ton of pictures when we went to Scotland, but I think that’s one of the few times we ever remembered to take a picture. We occasionally lament that every time we have a large group of friends around we never remember to take pictures, but I would rather be immersed in the good times instead of standing back and documenting them. I have to admit, the never-ending stream of photos that people parade across my FB feed make me feel like there is a little bit too much documentation of our lives. But of course, I’m a cranky curmudgeon who hates people and fun.
You may be a cranky curmudgeon, but you’ve got living in the moment down pat, Alan. Don’t change a thing! 🙂
Totally agree! When Louise and i go tornado chasing, people ask to see the photos/video. They seem dumbfounded when we explain that we’re out there to actually experience the events, not to watch them through a viewfinder.
What an incredible experience Jim! 🙂 I think the first time it hit home for me was when Sean and I were caving in Carlsbad, and I took a ton of pictures, and he’d warned me none of them would translate, and I did it anyway. He was right, on film the 3D perspective was trashed. Without the depth the grandeur, scope and ‘take your breath away’ moments didn’t happen. After that I learned to use my camera sparingly, and only in places where it might translate.
Tornados, no. I can see how there’s no way to capture those without seriously expensive gear. 😉
We take a lot of pictures, but they’re almost always an afterthought. I couldn’t count the number of times we’ve said “Crap, some photos of this would be AWESOME.” Memories are the best photos.
My husband and I love to travel and have been all over the world. I agree, Pompeii is awesome. It was one of the first ruins I’ve ever visited. Life is about experience, not the photos. In truth, my husband and I retell stories of our experiences (Remember when…) far, far more often than we ever look at our photos.
I’m glad you can appreciate the perspective. 😉 Thanks for chiming in!
I feel the same way. I often kick myself that I haven’t taken enough pictures of my husband and I together in these wonderful places, but when we are on vacation, we’re too busy taking in the experience. When I was younger, I used to photograph everything, because I wanted to remember. But now I only remember the photography, and less of the moments. It’s exactly as you say.