The wonderful writer Paul Theroux has written nearly 30 novels, some of which have been made into feature films. He has written hundreds of short stories and reviews which have appeared in magazines and book form. But he is probably best known for his travel writing, with more than 20 books and collections covering every corner of the globe, from Mexico ("On the Plain of Snakes") to the Pacific ("The Happy Isles of Oceania") to the Far East ("Sailing Through China").
One that sticks with me is his collection of short essays on wandering called "Sunrise with Seamonsters," and specifically one of the earliest pieces written nearly 60 years ago called "The Cerebral Snapshot." In it he laments how the taking of pictures takes you away from the act of observing the thing you are photographing. He relates a situation he encountered in Africa where he watched a herd of giraffes running while his friend snapped shot after shot. After they were gone, his friend turned to him and said he didn't get a good look at them. Why? Theroux asked. His friend responded, "See, if you take pictures of things, you don't really see them."
The proliferation of smart phones with built in cameras has only exacerbated that conundrum. Photography has become easy and accessible to everyone all the time with no need for big and expensive equipment. Theroux presaged what that means: we all take way too many photos as opposed to just looking at the world and absorbing the moment. If you've been to any concert, you can't help but notice the bevy of people who have their phones out recording the event, and not actually watching and listening.
Still, as records of the past pictures have no equal. You need no literary or journalistic skills to capture a moment in time and share it with friends and family. But pictures have gone on beyond being simple articles of record. With tools accessible to everyone, it is now possible to transcend time, showing us not just the past but helping us envision the present, and indeed, see into the future.
Two simple examples.
For a project I am working on we visited a location just before Christmas. I took many pictures, but every one has wreaths and lights and decorated trees. And while that was certainly an accurate representation on that day in December, it's hard to envision it in the more pristine look we will see in the spring when we return. The venue offered their marketing beauty shots, but they weren't from the angles and vantage points we need. Enter my new phone with its advanced AI toys, including one called "Magic Eraser." Using it, I was able to simply circle or highlight any yuletide decorations, tap a button, and before you could say "Holy Noel, Batman!" the space was denuded of any holiday accoutrements. It appears as it does in its present state, with no need for a return trip to reshoot the pictures.
As to looking into the future, one of our kids is in the process of fleshing out a new apartment. As he was exploring options for beds, he came across one online that he thought would fit nicely into the space, but wasn't sure. However, on the website was a button labeled "View in Your Space." A tap on it, and the bed appeared "live" in the bedroom as he looked through his phone. He was able to place it where he wanted it, walk around and see how it looked, as well as the clearances to the walls, windows and doors. It enabled him to see beyond today to a future point on the calendar where it was set up, and give him the confidence he was making the right choice.
If you are a writer, as Theroux said, the best thing you can do is to watch what is in front of you with your eyes and brain, and not capture it on a piece of film. Or as he put it so succinctly, "a picture is worth only a thousand or so words." But if like most you want to not only memorize that vision, but build on it, then perhaps it's better to remember what the great photographer Robert Capa said: "The pictures are there. You just take them."
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Marc Wollin of Bedford likes to write AND take pictures. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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