When you get older, you realize how memories fade, how they disappear, and that’s when you wish you had taken more pictures. I am not talking about young folks shooting photos for the sake of getting likes. I am talking about precious moments, a picture here, a picture there. They will help trigger lost memories. For what is our identity if not a string of recollections we have?
As I've grown older, my main regret is not having spent time with people i wanted to. Photographs have never come up. Perhaps it's because I've always disliked it and looked down on people who killed moments by trying to immortalize them. The photos at best act as a trigger to remember but in a very limited way. And being a photographer i think really does alter your way of looking at things imo for the worse.
Curious why you believe this?
Personally, my experience of the world expanded significantly when I bought a camera in my early 30s.
It forced me to notice things I’d never noticed before. It trained me to open my awareness. It helped me see more beauty, experience more awe, and become more attuned to the environments I’m in.
I also have aphantasia - my mind’s eye is blind - and photography helps me remember things in a way I otherwise cannot.
Anything can be taken to the extreme and become a problem. But I couldn’t disagree more for the general case. Most of the photographers I’ve met since I started doing this have been wonderful people with perspectives that helped me broaden my own.
I’ve also met people who can’t put the camera down and tend to annoy the people around them. But this is a small subset.