I read a really interesting article this week, all about how technologyy is shaping our lives. We live in a digital age where our every waking moment, thought or action is recorded for all to see. It so instantaneous, but does it interfere with us living in the moment?
Even before the advent of social networking and camera phones I've always argued with my hub, D, about his need to photograph everything and keep a record for posterity. Now this is a lot to do with his penchant for archivy - history and record keeping is kind of what makes him tick so I know I should cut him a bit of slack. However, I have often found myself saying - stop photographing and LOOK AT THE VIEW! I'm just not sure you can ever fully do justice to an image by photography alone - it needs to be in context. I have a photo of the Grand Canyon which looks great but what makes the Grand Canyon GRAND is the fact that it's impossible to capture by camera due to it's utter vastness. It needs to be seen in context not in isolation. You'd think I'd practice what I preach but no! In a moment of madness I decided to take a photograph during an Elbow concert - imagine the scene, it's the encore.....Guy Garvey begins to sing "One day like this", his voice like a gorgeous piece of toast, soft and buttery on the top but with a bit of crunch underneath! - the chorus arrives (Throw those curtains wide - one day like this a year will see me right) the lyrics rising majestically - huge and anthemic, the crowd singing as one, totally lost in the moment! And then.....it happens! Loads and loads of huge bouncy balls descended onto the crowd, accompanied by a veritable ash cloud of ticker tape! It was breathtaking! I was beside myself, singing my favourite song, marvelling at the mad view in front of me, people laughing and batting these huge balls from one side of the crowd to the other, their faces misted by the descending confetti! I must capture this moment I thought and reached for the camera.....In the excitement I couldn't find it - then I did...quickly I need to get it out of the case: aghgghghgh where's the "on" switch - oh it's there! Quickly (Throw those curtains......la la la)...more ticker tape, what should I photograph?.....I want it all, a photo of everyone enjoying this moment, get the balls in and the ticker tape CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.....and then it was all over. It was at this point I realised that I wanted to do it again because I hadn't taken it all in - I hadn't been fully engaged from start to finish and I really really wanted to be. It's one of my favourite songs and I wanted to hear every note, sing every word and watch the performance unfold before my eyes. Instead I watched half of it (which was WONDERFUL) but missed the finale as I was too busy taking the photo! Oh I was SOOOO annoyed with myself afterwards - especially when I saw the photos - THEY WERE RUBBISH! You can't even tell what they are supposed to be.
So I guess what I'm saying is that despite the advancement of technology - don't miss what's happening in your "here and now". It's nice to let friends know what you are up to via facebook, posting photos or videos but it's also important to savour the moment too!
Have a good week
Mindfulmissyxx
ps: Just in case you are interested, here's a You Tube video of the Elbow song! Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk2xaeXnxlM&NR=1
pps: Hey I've really been in the moment today as was supposed to be writing more about Twitter and Facebook but have gone off on a completely different tangent! I love it when that happens!
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