Tuesday, April 19, 2016

One... two... say cheese and smile for a photograph!

I don't love pictures. By that I mean selfies and check ins at restaurants. I don't like to document life. It makes me immensly uncomfortable to give out that kind of information. The desire to document everything has wilted. The charm of having to take pictures of every meal, every drink, every dress I wear has fizzled out.  No. no. Don't confuse it for maturity or anything like that. It was a random late afternoon realisation about two years ago. #Insta everything was all the rage and I was  kind of drawn in, but not really. After moving to the US, one of the thing that I thought would happen was that I would end up taking pictures of everything, and why not? Everything was new, different and so beautiful. But I did not, at least not of myself.

Walking and driving through Erie, I saw gorgeous houses that were straight out of a novel, swing sets engulfed in snow, leaves of a million colours lining the way to the house and all of it I can describe only with words. I have nothing to show. While making permanent records of fleeting moments, we forget to relish the present. I made it a point to not take my phone out. Literally everyone I knew was sleeping when I was awake. I wasn't expecting a call. Plus, my husband was always around and his phone was always reachable. Our evening walks by the lake were simply to take in as much as we could and enjoy the moment. It never struck either of us as a temporary thing, we didn't bother keeping a record.

I took a lot of pictures on the trips we took, never of the two of us but of the places we had gone to see. Minus a few token pictures here and there, I have no pictures of myself or him. Most pictures you see on the blog are taken by my photographer husband who is a shutterbug to the core and engineer on the side. But even he couldn't bring himself to take endless pictures, perhaps because it was becoming too much of an overdose to document everything. The purposelessness of taking pictures, the pictures that would get lost for eternity was unappealing.

I have stunning pictures from the length and breadth of the country and each picture more beautiful than the other, some are silly, while some are art (that's the husband). Each picture has a million stories to tell. Each picture was taken not to be put up anywhere but to keep as a document to pull up in a conversation decades from now to tell a fabulous tale.

Do we not have silly pictures at all then? We do. I have a series of absolutely mundane pictures of me sitting on the couch or the husband reading a book or a selfie of what I'd look like with a mustache. These pictures have a different place in my heart (and on my laptop). However, these were pictures that bring back fond memories. It has nothing to do with the need to document or showcase, but more to do with trying to hold on with all my might a moment that'll never repeat. Aren't photographs just that? The human desire to cling on to a feeling? One that you know will never come back? I try to be practical about taking pictures but I fail. I look at a lot of the instagram photos and wonder if people ever go back to see them and then I ask myself the same question, will I ever go back and see those pictures? I don't know. But the desire to hold on is so immense we would rather look narcissistic than miss out on those moments, even one that look remotely important. 



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I've tried to let the reigns loose on this post and ramble on. No edits. If you feel like there are too many thoughts, there are. 

8 comments:

  1. Totally agree with this. Taking selfies is become such a fad back here in India. I often find myself being pulled into a group selfie (groupie) during lunch breaks in classes or on the way home. And for someone like me, who can't take a perfect photograph, or look halfway decent in a selfie, it becomes quite difficult to politely decline their requests!

    I like your thoughts about not taking many pictures of yourself while on a vacation. I mean, that's the whole point of a vacation, right: You see and admire a scenery that you have never seen before. Why fill memory cards with pics of the person that you already are? :D

    Catching up with your posts after a long time. *hides face*

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  2. One can get lost in the madness of taking photos and instagramming them. Yes, the present moment is a precious moment and it's lovely to savour it.

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  3. I totally agree with you Maggie. This too much photography is a total kill-joy! One can hardly remember what one actually saw! I hate selfies and I think I look pretty bizarre in them. I am not yet insta-savvy so I am safe from that madness! Great post :)
    @KalaRavi16 from
    Relax-N-Rave

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  4. Lovely thoughts. And yes taking pictures is okay as long as you don't forget to savour the moments. And I like the pictures on your blog.

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  5. Enjoyed the post .
    If I am done with my addiction of clicking a lot of pics .
    This starred irritating me now .
    Will soon start enjoying the moments instead of capturing them


    @dixita011 from
    Cafenined words



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  6. Goodness.. reading you like reading my own thoughts..
    "While making permanent records of fleeting moments, we forget to relish the present." is exactly how I feel .. that's why I am averse to facebook and I haven't as yet discovered instagram. I have a digicam that I bought to click some gorgeous photos like you have here in this post but not to post and get likes but to satisfy my own creative streak.
    and ofcourse.. there are some moments that I wish to hold on too -- they inspire or move me and when I relook at those snaps they transport me to that moment.. sometimes technology isn't a bad thing.. it also makes one meet people like you :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Goodness.. reading you like reading my own thoughts..
    "While making permanent records of fleeting moments, we forget to relish the present." is exactly how I feel .. that's why I am averse to facebook and I haven't as yet discovered instagram. I have a digicam that I bought to click some gorgeous photos like you have here in this post but not to post and get likes but to satisfy my own creative streak.
    and ofcourse.. there are some moments that I wish to hold on too -- they inspire or move me and when I relook at those snaps they transport me to that moment.. sometimes technology isn't a bad thing.. it also makes one meet people like you :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Goodness.. reading you like reading my own thoughts..
    "While making permanent records of fleeting moments, we forget to relish the present." is exactly how I feel .. that's why I am averse to facebook and I haven't as yet discovered instagram. I have a digicam that I bought to click some gorgeous photos like you have here in this post but not to post and get likes but to satisfy my own creative streak.
    and ofcourse.. there are some moments that I wish to hold on too -- they inspire or move me and when I relook at those snaps they transport me to that moment.. sometimes technology isn't a bad thing.. it also makes one meet people like you :)

    ReplyDelete

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