Buga: 06.08.2019
Every person on this Earth should have limited data storage capacity, especially for storing image and video files!
I could join the 'Fridays for Future movement' in this demand. Because the ecological impact of constant photographing, filming, and saving ranges from the power consumption of the capturing device to the provision of ever larger data volume. It could also be discussed from a cultural, sociological, and psychological perspective why people need to take so many pictures all the time. It simply annoys me now.
If you know us or have been following the blog for a while, you know: We were never big photographers. The Altenhofen family has a particular preference for poorly taken snapshots that are sometimes nicely framed and hung on the wall. I can't take good pictures, nor have I ever had the desire to. When I was out with several people, I always left my camera at home and at most let myself be provided with pictures later on. Of course, it's nice to be able to remember special places or moments with a picture. But no one really wants to see the masses of vacation pictures or films that are currently being produced. I bet 95% of all taken data will never be viewed again. Just our pictures from Chile and New Zealand: no one wanted to see them after our return. Let's be honest: the unwritten rule that you can only talk about a trip for a maximum of 5 minutes before it annoys especially people who haven't been there yet, still applies in the times after the era of endless slideshow evenings. And no one looks at pictures either (you've all seen them on the blog already! 😉)
Nevertheless, people film and photograph like crazy: Asians who like to spend hours posing themselves, currently consumed food, and the background in scenes. Slovaks who simply film everything that comes in front of their camera: balconies, churches, trees. At Lake Achensee, Arabs drove around the lake for hours with their phones out the window without ever getting out or stopping. German girls almost fell into the Milford Sound while doing gymnastics and showing their bare torso on a narrow, protruding cliff. A life for a good photo! In Bratislava, in 15 minutes, for sure 15 people took unoriginal photos on a chessboard!!! Without pieces. Just a pattern that was on the ground in the courtyard of a building.
Why?
Must we capture everything we experience quickly and inattentively? Is it only for self-production on social media? I really wonder about that and I also wonder why it upsets me so much.
I refuse to go out of my way or stop considerately for such silly pictures. I only look at tourist highlights directly and not through a camera lens anymore. I can't take out my phone or camera at a sightseeing spot when everyone else is doing the same. It's just not possible! Maybe this is already becoming old-fashioned with age!? Do you lose your tolerance and flexibility at 40!?
I have nothing against photos in themselves. I admire people who take great pictures. People who have a knack for or simply a talent for using a good digital single-lens reflex camera. People who take their time for pictures and have a good eye. I also think it's nice to have pictures of special moments in life.
But there are already a thousand pictures of most places we have traveled to on the internet. I often hesitate to take pictures of people I encounter because I don't want to instrumentalize them.
What should we do? Limited data volume for everyone! Choose again what we really want to capture and what we want to experience live and directly. Sometimes hold on to moments with our minds. That's what I advocate and I say goodbye with these words for Tuesday! Now I have to take a few pictures of this exciting campground in the forest! 😆