I think the reason why we take photos has been lost in transit, somewhere between the moment we were shooting 35mm film on the family point and shoot, choosing only a special occasion to taint the films surface, to the overwhelming introduction of digital photography in every nook and cranny of our technological lives.
Heidi and I reminisced of the times when we would go to the local camera store with our Mum to get a roll of film developed, not knowing what the outcome of those 27 unviewable shots would be. The photographs always ended up being that much more special; snaps that we couldn't remember taking were gems, the faces of our friends and family beaming up at us from the photograph (more often than not my face was screwed up in a squint because Mum had to have the sun behind her).
Photo albums were raw, sequential documentations of our favourite moments captured on film. Organising photo albums was one of Mums yearly jobs. She brought out the photo box which was filled to the brim with happy snaps from her teens all the way to the present (so many medium format photographs to die for!) and trawled through the silly moments, the birthdays, the bloopers, the Christmas lunches and the holidays, sequentially ordering them into an amazing page by page documentation of her life.
Photography has lost the emotional connection between subject and the photographer. Cameras aren't being used to capture memories and document them as a special point in time. They're being used to advertise oneself to a world wide audience, a quick, ego stroking upload to remind people that yes, you did get a hair cut or buy that expensive dress. Which brings me to my next point, the point and shoot debate. People are so obsessed with being in the picture that they take the picture themselves. I remember those times when an innocent passerby was asked to take the family photograph. This required Dad to show him how the camera worked (which I find hilarious, as there was only one button you could push). Next, we would all look at one another hoping that this individual wasn't some criminal that was going to take off with the beloved family cam. The photograph would be taken, a swift "Thanks mate!" would be uttered and we'd be on our way.
Repping a Digital SLR myself I know I sound like a hypocrite but what I'm trying to get at is an acknowledgement of that fantastic moment when you give yourself one chance to take that perfect (or not so perfect) capture; letting it be, treasuring its flaws and hiding it safely away, ready to look at it in what seems like an age to come.
Pointing and shooting with the intention to freeze the moment, savour time and carry that moment with me is the reason I pick up a camera.
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