As a teenager, I used to regularly say "I'd rather look at life for real than through a view-finder of a camera"
30 years later I now know how wrong I was. I regret not taking photos of everything I could. So many lost memories.
30 years later I now know how wrong I was. I regret not taking photos of everything I could. So many lost memories.
It's great to look back and have reference points for things but I think what photos do is they server as a key to unlock memories. It's like they contain parity data which allows us to remember a whole day or night or week. Some times we just need a few bit's and the memories come flowing back whole and uncorrupted.
After searching alot for a very compact camera I can just pull out, blindly take pictures and stow away for later review, I found the long-discontinued DxO-One being a gem. A really nice blend of good camera-hardware and ultra-compact design, at a (now) crazy-low price.
(It was initially sold at ~700 USD, but flopped and then later discontinued, but it can now still be purchased at ~110 USD as new, and that's hard to beat for a large-sensor (1" sensor) camera with a great lens (f/1.8 with mechanical iris).
I started collecting data about it, because it also has quite some potential to be hacked and customized [0]
I agree with you, and also agree on the "balance" aspect. My father passed away 27yrs ago, before digital cameras. My memories of him now are just ambient. I remember vague feelings of our time together, but there are no aha-moment photos that capture moments in time. Perhaps in another 10yrs it will be a vague memory.
Of the most cherished photos I have now, are shocked faces, grimaces, wide smiles, and movement of my own children and cat.
Photos I dont value much are those I can find online anyway (e.g., a photo I have of the Eiffel Tower). OTOH, a nice angle of the Eiffel Tower, perhaps with kids trying to "hold" it, would be valued.
I too wish there were some more photos from my late teens/early 20s.
Of course this was all before smart phones, and now perhaps one may be justified complaining more about ubiquitous surveillance and incessant sharing online.