I am a big fan of exhibitions. It is a way to explore various aspects of life that I would rarely encounter in my everyday schedule. Whether it be Monet, Testino, Pixar, or Dior, I love that I can spend hours in museums just admiring whatever is being presented with air condition and silence (for the most part). This summer was no different. From Chanel to Karim Rashid and Life to Pattie Boyd, I spent a lot of time indoors enjoying artistic talent. I noticed, however, that more and more museums are now allowing visitors to take pictures (and even holding exhibitions for the sole purpose of it). It has become so common, that the first thing I do when I enter is scanning the room for the perfect photo opportunity. Sometimes, I even feel anxious when I find unexpected notices of “no photos” or when the staff stops me mid-photo. But I think that the fear of having photos and the heightened concentration that result from it, has made exhibitions with this prevention more memorable.

Today, we carry high-performance tools such as cameras, voice recorders, and mostly phones that can alternate an individual’s memory into digital permanence. The act of sharing and recording has become to great of a motive for experience. I take videos of concerts rather than singing along; I pick up my phone before my fork when the food comes out; and I am too busy posting my lunch date that I even forget to say hi. And the scary thing? I am surrounded by versions of this self. I even think we'd all have a better time being present, but putting the phone down has become so difficult. So why do people, myself included, continue to do this?

“Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms”

– Moto of the 1993 Chicago World’s Fair

The indiscriminate act of taking photos of all things and moments can be attributed to the fact that we are able to do so rather than that we need to do so. The behavior and habits of society are more likely to be determined by time constraints rather than individual choices. We did not ask for the development of social media in order to connect with people who have nothing to do with us through digital networks. We did not demand for the development of high-performance devices and systems to store and share our many moments of life. Everything happened in the opposite order. Maybe it's a change in behavior that is natural in the development of the world, but if it is without consideration of individual impacts, there a need to think about what we are missing in it.

At least for me, I take photos because I know that my memory is quite unstable. I like that the digital format can reduce the distortion and oblivion of human memory and make sharing it easier. But that human flaw is essential to life. The reason we can live a normal life is because we continue to distort and forget the memories of the past. If human memory is as everlasting as the digital one, we may have to suffer a lifetime with a single mistake. The memory stored in the human brain is constantly reproduced and reinterpreted, making the perspective of regarding the past always current. There is no reason why personal experience should be recorded in a precise and constant form on a pixel and frame basis, unless it is to leave evidence behind. The fact that digital is immutable in a world where everything changes is already unnatural. Just as great works of art do not concentrate on the exact description of reality, perhaps moments of life can be more beautiful when remembered in vague and fuzzy forms.

On the other hand, I think the act of recording can become a wonderful experience. Recently during a visit to a lake, I decided to draw what I saw. Instead of trying to perfectly capture the scenery, I attempted to depict what I felt while observing the ripples in the water. Likewise, photography can be an excellent experience for some people. Photos can express moments that are hard to recognize with the human eye, and contain stories that a writer can not convey. Some forms of records turn a common, repetitive experience into a single, worthwhile experience. Unlike many digital noises that are habitually recorded and shared, recordings that reflect the individual's subjectivity can be distinguished from those inherent to the medium's characteristics.