How much our natural interaction with a photograph has changed.........

What is a photograph? 

Emotionally, it is the memory of something we cherish.

Technically, it is freezing of time by capturing light.

Till the recent decade, we defined photograph in a particular sense. But now, in this decade, we have completely change the way we define it.

All the while keeping apart the Commercial photography, here I will be putting light on  non-commercial photos.

I remember when I was nothing but just a cute little kid, when my parents took me to a relatives home, we had loads of chat. They used to talk about people from all walks of life. In those conversations, one thing acted as visual cue, that was the Family Photo Album. Physical hard copies of photos slid inside those plastic lamination of the bulky albums.

In that time, we never said the word HARD COPY, because whatever there was, every piece of it was physical. Nothing virtual. Now only, we speak about Hard and Soft copies. Physical and JPEGS.

All used to laugh while recalling the moments captured by the photos. We pointed at this picture of an uncle in a trekking expedition, that picture of a distant cousin in USofA, or that baby picture of myself or the black and white photos of the younger self's of my parents. Sometimes even, we got lucky to see rare younger-photos of our grandparents before the Indian Independence.

A camera was enough to arouse our instinct to group together and ask one person to click us. Camera was still a luxury in the nineties. I never had heard of term SLR as a name, only saw them in the hands of reporters and marriage functions. Now I own one. Such huge distance between a two decade time.

Apart from Hard copy, another term we never used at that time was SELFIE. No Way. It is not that we did not take selfies, but we did not use that term, until last 4-5 years. Most selfies were self timer of 3 seconds or 10 seconds and sometimes hand held selfies if the camera was a small compact one. 

My first camera was KODAK. It had them negative rolls. Just view though the viewfinder and click a picture. No reviewing, No deletion. What is taken is taken. Done. Now we waited for a week to get them printed at a photo studio. Also the roll has some 24/34 negatives per roll, and damn expensive, so we clicked each pic after scouting the location and people.

Then came NIKON compact camera after a decade. A digital one with a LCD screen. Now we could review, delete, take the same photo multiple times. We transferred it to a computer and now we viewed soft copies on our monitors. Still it was good.

Another 4 years gone, I got a DSLR in 2014. a CANON, more advanced, crystal clear and it clicked RAW images giving a lot of of post processing opportunities. Still it was Good. 

Personal photographs was an internal affair. We discussed and showed photos to only near and dear one. And those who we met and became close enough to share our memories with them. We never craved for showing it to all of the world. That idea never even came to our mind. NEVER. We clicked photos for photos sake, for memories sake and for getting nostalgic in some 20-30 years ahead. That was the agenda and motto.

But one thing that came in this decade, completely changed the way we respect a photo and reminiscent on looking at it. It is the Social Media. Those numerous website and apps.

The word sharing has got a lot of makeover in this decade. Previously, Sharing meant to have the will to shed a singular ownership and make a thing to be used by a group. For example, sharing a piece of bread with fellow travellers rather than having it alone or like utilising a Car Pool. We shared photographs in the way that we showed them to each other out of curiosity to know each others adventures.

Now in this social media age, we have totally changed the meaning of Sharing. Although it is said, something like in advertisements "Let us share our experience with the world via photos', deep underlying motto is surprisingly different.

We share photos to not share our experience, but to show people, to how much degree we also enjoyed like our counterparts. We share photos to boast about ourselves, not share experience of our visit. We share photos to get "More number of likes" and "More quantities of comments'.

And this is a huge serious concern. We share photos out of jealousies, not out of friendly sharing of experiences. People go on vacation to not enjoy that new place, but to only click photos of that place with themselves standing in front of the background.

One and a half decades back, we used to enjoy a tourist spot first. We used to get absorbed in its glory, admire the beauty of nature and marvel at the bold man made structures. and then we took some photos as a token of memory, to show our friends and be nostalgic after another decade passes by.

Now, I have seen people, go to same tourist spots. What they do is just start clicking photos and selfies the moment they jump on the scenic place. Even I have done that. We have forgotten or just have started ignoring to admire and get mixed with the beauty of the place.

We just want one thing, that is, Our happy smiling faces in the foreground and that-not-so-admired -beautiful-scenery at the background.  I have seen some tourists, they keep on clicking the same photo hundreds of time until they get the shot up-to their satisfaction.

The next thing is Upload. But just before upload, use of those make-you-beautiful-apps and then finally upload, totally ignoring what is in the background. Next is sticking the phone above the eyes to check the number of like and comments. I too have been through this. We all have and is still going through. That's it.

Where are those days when we respected the essence of capturing a memory though photography?Where are those days when Personal photos actually meant Personal? Where are those days when we seeped hot tea with friends and admired the photos at home?

Now we go to a fancy restaurant click groupies and share instantly on Social Media. After that we don't have a conversation with each other through mouth and eyes. Instead sitting around a table, we as a group, will be glued to our smart phones to check number of likes. We do not actually talk, like we used to.

Food arrives, another food photography, another upload, then spoon on right hand and phone on left hand. Geo-tag it. Upload. Check number of likes. Checked-in-the-same-posh-restaurant-like-our- friend-did-a-week-back and made us jealous. Let now he be jealous of us. BUCKET LIST fulfilled.

This is us now. We  have even forgotten to admire the taste of the food.

If we look closely our normal behaviour to things have faded away. We used to actually have front-to-front-chat when we met people. We actually ate food together. That was our normal behaviour.

This glued-to-the-phone while chatting and eating is not normal. or rather, this has become the NEW NORMAL.

We are on the path of being ruled by technology not the other way around.

So, if we can start practising, to at-least begin by just initially giving 15 minutes to our old self, it will be worth a step to being the old-us. Let us relive for at least 15 minutes a day the old way.

Actual newspaper in hand.
Eating food without taking its photo.
Admiring a place without jumping at the first look to click photos.

Maybe we will rediscover our old way of life. That life was slower yes, but not at all obsolete. People have survived old school way for centuries.

Since we cannot ignore this decade or the futuristic decades, let us at the least have the urge to spend some time the OLD WAY. Let us not completely give into technology. Let us use our god gifted hands and legs.

Let us paint on a canvas and not on a tablet. Let those colours stick to our fingers and face.

Let us again return that lost respect we had for photos. Let us take Photo prints.
Make those bulky photo albums and sit on a sofa with friends and admire them holing the photos on our hands and not just swiping the touchscreen.

We will of course post photos on social media, this cannot be ignored. It has been ingrained in our DNA, but now with new motto to share experience and not self-boasting.

If we want, we can do it, even in this virtual world. We can create a healthy atmospheres. Maybe in time we will be able to distinguish between to-share-photos-with-the-whole-world and not-to-share-photos-with-the-whole-world.

Thing can be improve only gradually, overnight change is bad. So let us be gradual and integrate OLD WAY with NEW Way instead of completely giving way to the later.

Let there be Photo prints and Let their be actual bulky albums. Let us feel their weight on our hands. Lets us be more involved with our nature and our photos.

Let their be Peace.

You can share your experiences too in the below comments.

Happy Indian Republic Day to all citizens of the World

Catch you later. BubBye readers.