I don't know if the spirits of Caboclos that walk with me understand english, but I wish they do so they can read this and be as amused as I am. One of your best essays, Tom.
That's a great essay, Thomas! I spent some time in Spain two years ago on a wilderness retreat. The experience was profound but I couldn't make full sense of it at that time.
After two weeks I returned back from this remote place in the Spanish Pyrenees to Barcelona and what surprised me the most was not the busyness of the city but – guess what – my own reflection in the shop windows. I hadn't seen myself for two weeks.
It was incredible to realize how much time I actually spent with "thinking about how I look" in my every day life. Just about every time I go into a bathroom. There is always a mirror.
It is only now that I realize what made this experience so profound. Without constant "mirrors" (analog and digital) I could simply be. Be me. I didn't have to be something for someone.
Interesting thoughts on this Tom, I agree that the native Americans’ opinions on photography were taken on face value and not explored on a philosophical level. Your points on social media are especially interesting. I’ve noticed the rise of “Instagram face” – more and more filters used to present a manipulated face to levels of uncanny valley. At a certain point it’s not attractive, but a warped sense of what looks good. Then, people surgically alter their real faces to try to live up to this ideal. I wonder how that fits into this framework?
I also wonder how native Americans reacted to drawn images, and if they created visual images themselves in this way. In sketching, you build a much deeper relationship with your subject, remembering details, but perhaps capture the essence of the person even further, showing their personality in the image. There are some cultures where drawn imagery is banned due to religious reasons, though there are speculations that this is due to stopping people transcend language barriers rather than acting as a god.
You know Tom, sometimes the Luddite boomer in you really shines through. Fortunately, those are the moments I particularly enjoy. Which probably marks me as a poor specimen of a zoomer, but oh well.
The distaste for pictures is a mutual emotion, but I suspect mine is more due to a lack of “photogenic-ity” as it were. So selfies simply aren’t done.
But lately I’ve come to look upon photos with more favour. Especially their particular capacity to act as single-destination time machines. People with a whole lot of pictures have digitised memories to visit whenever they want.
Clearly that’s something I miss out on. As someone who shares my aversion, do you look at a lack of pictures as meaningful loss? Or do you think it’s something worth losing out on for the benefits it’s absence provides?
I don't know if the spirits of Caboclos that walk with me understand english, but I wish they do so they can read this and be as amused as I am. One of your best essays, Tom.
"The camera has taken your soul.
The tribesman weeps a single tear.
Until next time..."
That's a great essay, Thomas! I spent some time in Spain two years ago on a wilderness retreat. The experience was profound but I couldn't make full sense of it at that time.
After two weeks I returned back from this remote place in the Spanish Pyrenees to Barcelona and what surprised me the most was not the busyness of the city but – guess what – my own reflection in the shop windows. I hadn't seen myself for two weeks.
It was incredible to realize how much time I actually spent with "thinking about how I look" in my every day life. Just about every time I go into a bathroom. There is always a mirror.
It is only now that I realize what made this experience so profound. Without constant "mirrors" (analog and digital) I could simply be. Be me. I didn't have to be something for someone.
This is True , even in modern societies. People being photographed lose their sense of Presence and become conscious of them being photographed.
lose a sense of Natural flow and activity they were engaged in. This takes the beauty away from the photograph
Interesting thoughts on this Tom, I agree that the native Americans’ opinions on photography were taken on face value and not explored on a philosophical level. Your points on social media are especially interesting. I’ve noticed the rise of “Instagram face” – more and more filters used to present a manipulated face to levels of uncanny valley. At a certain point it’s not attractive, but a warped sense of what looks good. Then, people surgically alter their real faces to try to live up to this ideal. I wonder how that fits into this framework?
I also wonder how native Americans reacted to drawn images, and if they created visual images themselves in this way. In sketching, you build a much deeper relationship with your subject, remembering details, but perhaps capture the essence of the person even further, showing their personality in the image. There are some cultures where drawn imagery is banned due to religious reasons, though there are speculations that this is due to stopping people transcend language barriers rather than acting as a god.
You know Tom, sometimes the Luddite boomer in you really shines through. Fortunately, those are the moments I particularly enjoy. Which probably marks me as a poor specimen of a zoomer, but oh well.
The distaste for pictures is a mutual emotion, but I suspect mine is more due to a lack of “photogenic-ity” as it were. So selfies simply aren’t done.
But lately I’ve come to look upon photos with more favour. Especially their particular capacity to act as single-destination time machines. People with a whole lot of pictures have digitised memories to visit whenever they want.
Clearly that’s something I miss out on. As someone who shares my aversion, do you look at a lack of pictures as meaningful loss? Or do you think it’s something worth losing out on for the benefits it’s absence provides?