From Instagram to Snapchat, our society has an obsession with photos, but that's nothing new. It really wasn't that long ago that people would sit for hours to have themselves drawn or painted, or even photographed. They'd have to remain perfectly still for a long time, just to get the perfect angle. These works of art were hung up in their houses where they could always see them. Now, we put them on our Facebook walls and upload them to Instagram to show the world. There are majors dedicated to the field of photography, and people will pay absurd amounts of money for family portraits. So what is it about the photograph that makes us crave it so much? Why do we so desperately want to show the world our lives?
When it comes to pictures, there's just something about them that draws us in. We look through the photos of others, and even more than that, we take dozens before we pick the right one to show our friends. I think the reason we love photographs so much is that they are a direct link to the past. Candids in particular capture us as we are, no planning required. Even normal photos of landscapes, random people, or even our friends and family are like a miniature time machine. We look at photos and are instantly transported back to that moment. We can smell the flowers in the background, taste the ice cream in our hand, and feel the happiness of the day.
Trinkets and even smells link us to the past, but I don't think anything quite does it like a photograph. There's nothing quite like looking at a picture and being able to close your eyes and be placed back in that moment. For the most part, photos of us are taken when we are happy, so I think part of the reason we love photos so much is that they bring us that same happiness. I don't think a moment can ever be replicated exactly as it was, but photos bring us pretty close. Whether it be the look on our faces or the glimmer in our eyes, those 5x7 pieces of paper have a serious effect on us.
At the same time, although there is beauty in a photograph, it's because of these memory capsules that we stop focusing on the moment. Photos allow us to snap now and view later, but in doing so, we will never truly be able to go back later. If we experience a moment only to capture it in a photo, we aren't really experiencing that moment at all; we are only there to try to take it with us.
In such a modern and fast-paced world, it's easy to understand the logic behind not noticing things as they are happening, but it's a sad logic. As opposed to sitting and appreciating things, we snap them up to show our friends and look at later. Photographs give us a portal to the past, but they can only do so much. If you look at a photo but weren't attentive to the moment, the photo won't have any effect on you. You can pretend you remember every second, but if you were too busy getting the right lighting for your selfie, the only thing you'll remember is being in that moment, not feeling that moment.
It might seem as though I'm telling you to not capture that moment, and I'm not. I'm just giving a reminder that the photo isn't all you need to remember a better time. Once you've truly taken in that moment for all it has to offer, Snapchat it, add a filter, post it to Instagram, and upload it to Facebook. Show the whole world where you are what you're doing. Photographs, regardless of what they're of, regardless of how blurry they are, and regardless of who takes them, are beautiful things.
We should only post photos because we want to, but the difference between photos just 10 years ago and photos now is that we have the option of sharing. Sharing is a gift, but it can also be a downfall because of how much we focus on likes and shares. We now view the value of our photos in the number of likes, shares, retweets, and screenshots it gets, and we really shouldn't. Photographs are taken for us, and if liked by no one else, the only person they are ultimately meant to impress is us. If the photo doesn't make us happy at the end of the day, why did we take it in the first place? There's so much planning that goes into a 5x7 piece of paper, so many memories in that image, so much beauty in a photograph.
