But they did see it and then they had to run off to the next thing they needed to see. They just didn't have time to soak up the view and wait. There was something else waiting for them, a cab, a dinner, a flight, a job, a child, a pet or countless other distractions.
Every time I get to take even a minute to see something I cherish it. Then I have to run off to the next task to do.
I'm not sure I agree with the authors projection of possible motives of those they were observing. There is always danger in assuming you know what is going through someone else's mind.
Only people do the same on their spare time, for the whole duration of events, in the holidays, etc. Where there is no other pressing thing waiting for them like a flight, a job or a child. Besides all of those things could wait for 10 minutes.
As for non pressing things and "countless other distractions", that's the whole point of the author. They don't appreciate or cherish or stop to look at the things they visit, they just pass through to the next thing.
>I'm not sure I agree with the authors projection of possible motives of those they were observing. There is always danger in assuming you know what is going through someone else's mind.
Only we do know what's in most people's minds, it's mindless consumption of places and experiences, where they care more to post they've been there than of actually being there. Not to mention that the vast majority of those images (countless photos taken during a concert for example) nobody absolutely cares, not even the picture taking them will think about them twice.
It's funny how rarely I see people describing their own actions in these terms, though. I mean, I'm sure it happens, but the dominant mode seems more like "my behavior is authentic, those other people are being fake".
I get annoyed by phonecam-mediated behavior in its extremes, for sure, but I sometimes wonder if I'm not being perceived that way when I'm doing things (sharing a concert photo with a friend who couldn't make it; trying to get just the right angle and exposure on some striking scene) that feel "authentic" inside my own head.
I have been guilty of mindless consumption myself.
I any case, it's the mode of consumption that makes it mindless, not the persons intent (or lack thereof).
Apparently for many people -- perhaps even most -- showing off that they've had an experience to others is far more important than actually having had it.
I'll say, I have regretted this mindset in one instance. Christmas morning with our kids. I wish I had either more pictures or videos of my sons on Christmas morning when they were little. The zoo, museums, monuments, parks are more fun to experience in person. But sometimes you want to see your kids as their happy younger selves too.
Me and my girl picked one of these up for trips and the amounts of picture perfect shots/obsessive photographing has dropped dramatically. We can't really post the photos, but they decorate the bedroom nicely.
This line jumped out to me - because it is how my mother is. She wants a photo for the memory but never pauses for the memory itself. She was confused when I visited a foreign country for the first time and didn't take a single picture. Myself and the author seem to share the same feeling of wanting to experience something, not keep proof of it contained in a photo.
I still take photographs. But I do so to remember how things were. The photos I have of my family are mostly candid shots of them doing some mundane task and the idea of "3-2-1 cheese" is missing entirely. My grandmother bringing a birthday cake to my nephew, a smile on their faces. My sister investigating her sea monkeys with a look of curiosity. Things like that. Because they might not remember the experience - but I'm sure they'll remember being there. The experience, to me, is the important thing to photograph and not the fact they were there.
It's for that reason I find "selfie culture" to be somber. They aren't photographing the experience - they're documenting that "they were there" and they have proof they were because they have a selfie. But they know they were there so what is the selfie for?