3 ms·

Every time I stand in some photoesque place, I think "there are probably already thousands of photos better staged than mine will ever be." I end up only takin

Every time I stand in some photoesque place, I think "there are probably already thousands of photos better staged than mine will ever be." I end up only taking photos of things like a spectacularly nice knot on a rope, the fire escape plan (hotel layout), what I had for dinner, or other stuff that'll be difficult to find online. Though I rarely look back at those, a strong motivator is regret minimzation, since I'll probably only visit once. I can only speculate what the world will be like in a hundred years, when all corners of Earth have been photographed, and on constant display. I'm sure the tourism industry has to be... shrunk... anyway, for multiple reasons: at least 1) unnecessary energy usage and (2) global invasive mixing of ecosystems way too fast for them to handle it gracefully. A sea of photographies will make that easier.

Arainach 3y ago
Photos and art don't have to be unique to be good or valuable. No one learns by only doing new things - what would happen if someone refused to write a hello world program or a database or whatever because it had already been done? I agree with the overall article sentiment that it is important to take in experiences rather than stand around taking photos you will never actually look back at, but "it's been done better, I shouldn't do this" is a mindset which will hold you back.
- tommiegannert 3y ago
  You're totally right about me having a "if it's done before, it's boring" and you're also right it's probably hold me back. I don't recommend anyone have that feeling, but that's how I'm wired.
gumby 3y ago
> Every time I stand in some photoesque place, I think "there are probably already thousands of photos better staged than mine will ever be." Also 100% when I travel: when I see some amazing piece in a museum I know if I want to see it again (especially in great detail) I can, without taking my own photo over the heads of others. Instead I can just enjoy it. A couple of decades ago I scanned my dad’s slides. There were some fun pictures of old familiar places in the 60s (Singapore was really muddy!) but basically the only pictures of interest to anyone were of people. Lots of fun hours since then pointing at random photos and saying “remember when we did that?” But those landscapes? Boring (my dad said “These remind me how fascinated I was by the leaves when we visited the US” — basically thousands of (expensive!) photos were worth a 10 second glance in total). Video is also different from a photo — you can participate or watch but not both. At least you can whip your phone out, snap something interesting, and go back to being part of it.
- tommiegannert 3y ago
  > Video is also different from a photo Third-person with a selfie stick from behind is the ultimate solution for all our memorial needs. Though that doesn't capture our facial reactions. Need two cameras. At least. :)
  - gumby 3y ago
    If everyone is videoing and sharing you could crowdsource your own responses. Use some smart AI to trawl other video from the same time and assemble the "me" reel.
- jpl56 3y ago
  In museums I do a first visit enjoying the place and the pieces of art. Then I do a second visit just to take pictures of what gave me more emotions (keeping the art and its label), so that I can watch them back, or just know I have them saved somewhere. Some people may think "who is this weird guy taking pictures but not enjoying the place"... And I enjoy a lot museums where pictures aren't allowed, there are no irritating shutter sound effects that are so easy to avoid, just by putting the phone on vibrate.
JKCalhoun 3y ago
When I look back at photos of road trips I gravitate to the ones where the kids are in the photo — they were so little then. So, yes, for me it's the ephemeral subjects one should capture. That the camera tends to come out when said subjects are standing in front of the Grand Canyon is just a reality.

Arainach 3y ago

Photos and art don't have to be unique to be good or valuable. No one learns by only doing new things - what would happen if someone refused to write a hello world program or a database or whatever because it had already been done? I agree with the overall article sentiment that it is important to take in experiences rather than stand around taking photos you will never actually look back at, but "it's been done better, I shouldn't do this" is a mindset which will hold you back.

tommiegannert 3y ago
You're totally right about me having a "if it's done before, it's boring" and you're also right it's probably hold me back. I don't recommend anyone have that feeling, but that's how I'm wired.

gumby 3y ago

> Every time I stand in some photoesque place, I think "there are probably already thousands of photos better staged than mine will ever be." Also 100% when I travel: when I see some amazing piece in a museum I know if I want to see it again (especially in great detail) I can, without taking my own photo over the heads of others. Instead I can just enjoy it. A couple of decades ago I scanned my dad’s slides. There were some fun pictures of old familiar places in the 60s (Singapore was really muddy!) but basically the only pictures of interest to anyone were of people. Lots of fun hours since then pointing at random photos and saying “remember when we did that?” But those landscapes? Boring (my dad said “These remind me how fascinated I was by the leaves when we visited the US” — basically thousands of (expensive!) photos were worth a 10 second glance in total). Video is also different from a photo — you can participate or watch but not both. At least you can whip your phone out, snap something interesting, and go back to being part of it.

tommiegannert 3y ago
> Video is also different from a photo Third-person with a selfie stick from behind is the ultimate solution for all our memorial needs. Though that doesn't capture our facial reactions. Need two cameras. At least. :)
- gumby 3y ago
  If everyone is videoing and sharing you could crowdsource your own responses. Use some smart AI to trawl other video from the same time and assemble the "me" reel.
jpl56 3y ago
In museums I do a first visit enjoying the place and the pieces of art. Then I do a second visit just to take pictures of what gave me more emotions (keeping the art and its label), so that I can watch them back, or just know I have them saved somewhere. Some people may think "who is this weird guy taking pictures but not enjoying the place"... And I enjoy a lot museums where pictures aren't allowed, there are no irritating shutter sound effects that are so easy to avoid, just by putting the phone on vibrate.

JKCalhoun 3y ago

When I look back at photos of road trips I gravitate to the ones where the kids are in the photo — they were so little then. So, yes, for me it's the ephemeral subjects one should capture. That the camera tends to come out when said subjects are standing in front of the Grand Canyon is just a reality.