It seems like all the world’s become a photo or video op these days. No moment is safe from the glaring eye of the camera lens. Certainly one of the most amusing parts of all this has to be the build-up to these moments. You’re in a park or on the subway and out of nowhere appears a subject, who will ultimately become the protagonist, gearing up to do something mildly ridiculous that will earn him or her a few thousand YouTube views.
All of a sudden, you start to see people scrambling furiously for their phones in anticipation of the money shot. Then comes a full-on paparazzi swarm around some guy playing his guitar, wearing a thong, and singing Katy Perry covers right in the middle of Washington Square Park.
Cell phone cameras/videos are in full force, capturing every second of the action, and then, just for good measure, there’s always “that guy” using his iPad as a camera — cause that doesn’t look weird or anything…
I don’t know which was more intriguing, the guy on the verge of tasting the floor, or the people filming him, salivating at how many YouTube views it was going to earn them. I guess because for us regular folk, YouTube views are our version of the Oscars. They’re the only form of cinematic validation many of us will ever have coming our way.
Well, eventually the train did make a sudden stop, and yes, the guy did go flying. However, much to the chagrin of his videographers, he didn’t end up falling flat on his face, or getting hurt. It was still pretty funny to watch, but you could see that there was an overwhelming sense of disappointment with the anti-climatic outcome. The closest thing I could compare it to was the mood in a theater at the end of an M. Night Shyamalan movie.
We go to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July and New Year’s, but are so preoccupied with capturing it on video that we don’t take the time to bask in the significance of the occasion. Whatever happened to just enjoying the moment and capturing it in the mind’s eye? More often than not, that’s what really counts and makes a lasting impression. Let’s be honest, how many photos or videos when we look back at them actual conjure up the magic of the moment the same way we would have experienced it? I dare say not many.
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Heather
May 10, 2012 at 4:55 am
I have often had some of these same thoughts. My sister has a toddler and an infant and she is constantly taking photos of them and posting them for the family and friends to view (and we’re grateful, the kids are cute.) But, she does it so often that I think she often forgets to just interact with the kids and savor every moment without turning it into a masterpiece photo op. Some of life’s most precious moments are the ones that you DON’T want to share with all of your friends on your particular brand of social network.