Seeing vs. experiencing

If you read an interview with any photographer almost all will say that the biggest difference between shooting film versus digital is the immediate editing. Digital cameras let you take infinite number of pictures while film rolls have less than 50 exposures each. Many photographers say that this has changed the psychology of taking pictures because with film each shot had to be “worth” it and would therefore require more thought, while digital allows you to snap away to your heart’s content and just delete later on the computer (or more likely hoard all of them in a folder on your desktop never to be looked at again).

I’ve noticed this applies to how we experience life as well. We constantly want to prove we have done something, even if it is just to ourselves, and constantly being able to take pictures makes it so easy. But is it too easy? As someone who has been lucky enough to travel as much as I have, I have definitely realized the strongest memories that survive are not ones seen in photographs, but rather the ones where I was just hanging out and experiencing the moment fully.

I’m not saying “don’t take pictures”, obviously you want to have something to look at to remind you of amazing things you have done, I just think it is important to put your camera or iPhone or whatever away and just sit and be. Don’t let an amazing experience slip by because you were too busy seeing it through a screen.

–Emily–