I guess I'm viewing this through my own personal experiences and world view. Everyone I've seen who's a compulsive photographer doesn't have this heightened awa

I guess I'm viewing this through my own personal experiences and world view. Everyone I've seen who's a compulsive photographer doesn't have this heightened awareness for details. Instead, they're, at best, people who know how to manipulate a "scene" to get a better photo. The thing is that every thing in the real world is a photo subject for them rather than an experience. And i think the deeper down the hole they go, the less they realise this. I had not factored in conditions like aphantasia into my thoughts and in that context, i can agree that it would be useful but i imagine that it's not a very common condition so it's an outlier? For many people I've met, the first time they see something, it's through their phone/camera because they don't want to "miss the moment". I'd rather let it linger in my head as a memory and age. I can't take disagree with your point of view but i think it's mostly because our experiences are so different.