Photo Flicker

Today, I have clicked through photographs.

Isn't the internet a wonderful invention? You take a photo, upload it and within literally a few seconds, it can be screened to anyone across the world.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should do that with every picture you take. Digital cameras are fantastic - duff shots can be instantly deleted. Disappointment at not getting the perfect pose is rapidly diffused with the knowledge that you can immediately rectify the situation, and take another one, or another 7894 or so.

People were always so much more cautious with film cameras. A photo actually meant something, no flippant taking of anything all the time. Now, despite the clear advantage of being able to delete rubbish pictures, few tend take advantage of it. Many people appear to be quite vain creatures, and while unwilling to have a photo that shows them in a slightly less than favourable light, will be willing to forgo that possibility for the chance that they could have 12 more than might be just perfect.

For me, photos should be connected to memories, not be the memories themselves. Understandably, if it's a one off occasion: a birthday; a themed night; a party of old friends; it's nice to have photos as a reminder of happy times. However, scores of photos of a usual night on the town, when these events aren't exactly irregular occurances just seems fairly futile. Sure, the people who feature may be interested to see their own smiling faces x 202, but otherwise - why would you want to look at the same people pulling the same mundane poses. It serves to show nothing but "oh, you were drunk, again"

I prefer to capture the moments that mean something - snap the odd exchange with the perfect expression, people caught unawares in a way that totally demonstrates the essence of the interaction. Endless perfect poses are boring to take and to look through, the only reason to show them to the world is to show your face to the world, make you feel like you're important to other people.

Indeed, I do like nosing through photos and as the cliché goes - a picture tells a thousand words. But I do wish people would be more selective in deciding which ones to display; showcasing only the particulary decent ones, and not every misaligned click of the camera.

On the jukebox: Babybird ~ You're Gorgeous