Look at concerts - a sea of idiots holding up their phones, videoing an event, watching through their silly little phone. Enjoy the event! Buy the official DVD later if you want.
So IMHO, this seems pretty obsessive and extreme.
OK End of rant...
> to see if people approve of what they're doing...
So completely disagree that that has anything to do with it. Its inherently social, and imho in a way its enhancing the moment.
> a sea of idiots holding up their phones, videoing an event, watching through their silly little phone. Enjoy the event!
A sea of critics, wasting their time passing judgement on people. Enjoy the show!
And 99% of the time the quality is so awful that nobody cares. It's just to show people they were at that gig or that event.
> imho in a way its enhancing the moment.
I really don't feel like looking at something through a lens or holding your camera is enhancing the moment. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has a scene like that where the photograph don't take a picture just to appreciate the moment, because it's beautiful.
> wasting their time passing judgement on people.
well you're right on this one, to each their own I guess.
I think a greta parallel is hunting and fishing. It's all very well to say, just enjoy the lake and buy your fish later. In reality, it's hard to "just enjoy" some things. We need to interact with them somehow or talk to people about them or something.
Same with hunting. Lots of people say that what they enjoy is tracking, stalking. Watching animals for hours and getting to understand them. You could theoretically do all those things without a rifle… but you won't. People who are obsessive blob hunters know more about blobs than anyone else. They know the environment better than anyone else and they learn all sorts of interesting skills along the way.
Also, at the risk of sounding troll-ish (I hope I'm not though). Adding IMHO here sounds a bit like 'I'm not racist but.' I think humbleness is overrated, but that isn't a humble opinion.
Of course, this comes from a person who already has his phone record its gps posistion every 5 minutes.
But I agree with you on concerts, that is just rude to take photos while ruining the view for people behind you.
And I love this project. It seems a natural project for any photographer parent. I am sure we will this more and more. Not obsessive at all.
It is the sheer volume of photos that I believe bothers a lot of people. "oversharing." You get sick of the same baby every single day. Also craving extreme volumes of attention makes you come off as narcissistic. A lot of the time those photos aren't for them, they are to present to others in order to gain attention.