When standing at The Tomb Of The Unknown Solider everyone is expected to be silent; to experience the somber steps of a sentinel guard and mourn the lives of people with unknown histories.
Standing on the steps of the tomb watching the changing of the guard ceremony I became surrounded by a sea of iPhones. Everyone was focused on getting the best picture. I actually had a woman reach in front of me with her phone to get a better angle.
While everyone was focusing their cameras I was trying to focus myself on the experience in front of me. Not only were the people around me ruining the experience for themselves, but they were kind of ruining it for me too. As I watched the guard walk his 21 steps with impeccable precision I couldn't help but contemplate the idea of a picture.
We spend all our time capturing life in pictures so we can relive our experiences later. But what are we really experiencing when we look back at our photos? By trying to capture every moment on camera we miss the moment. Some people may argue that taking pictures is important so we can recall the unforgettable events we experience. I am not trying to degrade the value of a photo because as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." But there is a major disconnect in today's society when it comes to taking in a moment on camera and taking in a moment.
Everyone is concerned with what their lives mean to everyone around them. We take trips to foreign places and capture every moment on camera so we can share them on Facebook or Instagram. When I went to Italy I took pictures of things for the sole purpose of sharing them with my family so I didn't have to explain the trip. When I have to tell people about a trip or an event I experienced I almost feel like it changes the experience. There's nothing you could say that would recreate how you felt in that moment. The pictures I showed my family of vineyards and churches and fountains didn't have the same meaning to me as they did for them.
Everything we do is a once in a life time opportunity. Everyone experiences things differently, and it's simply impossible for someone else to understand you're experience through a photo. When we come home from vacation or a concert or a trip we show our pictures and then it's done. You probably won't look at those pictures again for a yea and even then you might only look at a few before you start relishing in the memory of the event. It's important to remember the cool things you get to experience and it's important to reflect on them and learn from them. My question is, what is the value of the photo if all you remember is taking the picture and not experiencing its content.
