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On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

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Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#291

Post by corny »

elif wrote: post #260

Missing a moment because you were "fiddling with your camera" is relatable. So inspiring is also the view looking out over the LCD ocean at a concert. It's easy to think that this tool is disconnecting us from the moment. But I'm here to offer a different perspective as I get to go to the zoo every day. For the first couple months in went no camera, only rarely taking a phone picture. Then I decided to get back into…

Yes, I use a 30 second rule as well! If something extra might happen within the frame, waiting it out often pays off.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#292

Post by Symbiote »

riffraff wrote: post #277
diggan wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and postcards basically no longer exist You mean in the sense that no one sends/receives them? Because that might be true for the younger generation, but postcards are still available literally anywhere I've been in the world, and are still very easy to send, for those who enjoy that.

> but postcards are still available literally anywhere I've been in the world, and are still very easy to send, for those who enjoy that. I mean both that they are used much less and they're much less available. You can find postcards of the Coliseum in Rome, but you'll have a hard time finding one of Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola. Even in major touristic hotspots, 30 years ago you'd find postcards sold at any shop, b…

The worse-looking (grotty, run-down, probably mostly sells cigarettes) type of souvenir shop has the best chance of selling postcards, in my experience. The photographs might have been taken in 1995.

I've been to some countries where only the official post office was allowed to sell stamps. That makes things much more inconvenient than the shop selling postcards also selling the stamps.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#293

Post by kridsdale1 »

card_zero wrote: post #203
riffraff wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is old advice, I remember it being framed as "if I wanted a picture of a monument I'd buy a postcard", and postcards basically no longer exist. It made some sense to take pictures of panoramas or art when you could show something to people that could not see it otherwise, but in this era it makes no sense (unless you enjoy photography as a hobby). A goofy picture of you kissing some old bronze statue? Dumb, but…

Turns out that the things I wish I'd taken photos of were: bookshelves (with titles visible), crappy old computers and things on the screen, posters I used to have on the wall, my everyday clothes, streets with parked cars, the inside of an art supply store. These are not achievements, or unusual places, or humans. The things I'd like to see are stores of subtle cultural information than gets lost because it seems un…

We started watching ER since HBO got it last month. My favorite thing about it is the time-capsule of 1994 that it is. The clothes. The software (likely a terminal to a mainframe!). The stacks on stacks of physical documents (no EMR!).

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#294

Post by kridsdale1 »

trollbridge wrote: post #240
__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a friend who refuses to take pictures without people in them. It seemed dumb at first but after several years of pictures piling up I can see he had a pretty good point.

That's very interesting. I don't do the same thing for religious reasons. So the photos I do have are utilitarian, e.g., pictures I took of some plants for the purpose of later IDing them. Such things are quite fascinating to look back at 8 years later. We also don't have any wedding photos, newborn photos, family photos, etc and there is a certain special feeling to knowing what someone looked like when they were yo…

This is very interesting to me. If you’re comfortable, I’d like to read more about this community / culture.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#296

Post by kridsdale1 »

gj5904wj90wop wrote: post #153
memhole wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a backpacking trip, a guy and I were hiking together for a moment. I was snapping photos of the landscape and he started to chastise me for it. He made the same point. It’s about the people you’re with. Eventually, all the photos blur together. He’s not wrong. I’ve got tons of pictures of the outdoors. Not that they aren’t beautiful. Pressed, I mostly couldn’t tell one from the other.

Completely disagree; photographs are just another kind of symbol, whether they be with others or not. I rarely travel with other people, and I despise having my own picture taken. All my photographs are of landscapes or objects; they're not terribly pretty but they do have meaning to me. There one of of a non descript mountain turn with a small gravel pullout. There's a million prettier pictures but that one means th…

I’m glad I kept reading this large HN thread because I found the best post I’ve seen in ages.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#297

Post by lupusreal »

andrehacker wrote: post #30
planck_tonne wrote: post #11

There must be a balance. Recently I met some people that were constantly filming and taking pictures of everything. It was ridiculous IMO, for the same reasons OP mentions. This is not new. For me, it began with the rise of the smartphone. So I made it a point not to waste my time photographing things. 10 years later, I regret having essentially no pictures of anything. In particular, no "good" or "frameable" picture…

When I was young and easily swayed, I took life advice from a well-known Dutch comedian (Youp van 't Hek) who loved to mock tourists taking those cringe “holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa” photos. The message was clear: tourist photos were tacky, and besides, you could always find a better photo in the gift shop anyway. So for years, I smugly avoided taking photos—too cool for clichés. It only hit me much later th…

I generally have disdain for picture taking on vacations, but leaning on the tower is definitely one I would make an exception for. Sure it's tacky and unoriginal, but that's what makes it mandatory!

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#298

Post by kridsdale1 »

FredPret wrote: post #275
theoreticalmal wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be slight more opposed to taking pictures on vacations if Apple didn’t have fantastic tools for capturing, sorting, and re-surfacing the photos to my attention. My phone and watch backgrounds cycle though Apple-chosen photos, which are usually spectacular. I frequently pause through the day after noticing a particularly fun picture and have a nice little 10s reminisce of the memory surrounding it

Very true. I don't even use that feature - I just have my TV cycle through all my Favourite'd photos. It then selects a new subset of those photos to cycle through every day or so. It's perfect, and I get to control which photos don't pop up.

I wish we had more control over the refresh period. It really seems to stick on some that keep coming up for years. I would like to allocate more ram or disk to the screen saver cache.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#299

Post by throwaway348759 »

j_bum wrote: post #10

I struggle to relate to this. I have aphantasia, which means I can’t see anything in my mind’s eye. This is most painful when I try to “imagine” my wife’s face, my family, friends, favorite parts of nature, etc, but am left with nothing. For me, this means that I struggle to remember things from my past beyond major life events. Even major events can be fuzzy for me. As a result, I’ve always tried to snap quick pictu…

As a fellow aphantasiac, I'd like to offer a contrasting view. I never felt the need to take a picture of an event in order to remember it in the future. Anything important, I can remember just fine, and the rest is naturally discarded. Aphantasia isn't a cognitive impairment, so chances are you'd struggle to remember events even without it.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#300

Post by bsnnkv »

scarface_74 wrote: post #274
bsnnkv wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool story, but this comment really missed the point.

You said “future generations”. Maybe you should clarify? Future generations won’t care about you besides those who knew you when they were old enough to remember you.

"I" is the operative word
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