analog photography and essay

I would like to better understand the contradictions of our time. Especially some concepts that we like to spread through social media. Such as the famous claim to "be here now", the proliferation of "good vibes only" and the supposed acceptance of self-image. Paradoxically, the tools we use to spread these messages are better examples of disconnection from the present, of the constant distortion of reality, and a prolific factory of dissatisfaction.

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Part of the problem has to do with time. Never before in human history have we produced these many images at such a speed. The time between taking a photo and materializing the result was not only reduced, it was not only removed, it was reversed. Nowadays when you take a photo with your cell phone you are actually seeing The Photo before taking The Photo.

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A compulsion for attention.

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Approximately 100 million images are uploaded to Instagram daily. Where did this compulsion come from? Much has to do with dopamine production, what we feel with each like, comment, or notification. This neurotransmitter is used by social network engineers to condition our behavior. It is just a slight rush, disappearing a second later. Leaving us wanting more. Unsatisfied. We crave more likes, more comments, and more attention. We spend our time looking for the reward, we pursue it –sometimes– without realizing it.​

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Dissatisfaction​ machine

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Living in the future causes anxiety and disconnecting from reality causes dissatisfaction. The clash between expectations and reality is what makes us miserable. This is where editing, filters, and other distortions that we use to "enhance" everything - from a landscape to our own face - come in. The first edition is carried out by the artificial intelligence of your phone: it prevents your photo from blurring, calculates light, focuses perfectly, and avoids any technical error. On top of that comes editing or other distortions as a filter. In the end, we end up seeing the same images. Same faces, same bodies, same landscapes. Over and over again. Faking it without actually making it.​

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Pause

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When we were children and our parents took photos of our birthdays, they wanted to preserve that moment, for you and for them, it was a private affair. Not a public one. That's why altering it didn't matter, it didn't matter what the others had to think or say. Now, this process has shifted, the same way it did with time. You think of what you are producing as a public affair. You think of how many likes, how many comments, how many reactions. All these comes before you.

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So next time you are about to take a picture, take some time to think. Breathe. Really "be here now". Why do you want to take that picture? For whom are you taking it? Why do you want to modify it? Most likely, the answer will keep your phone in your pocket, and perhaps you will enjoy whatever is happening instead. Perhaps neither you nor that moment needs a touch-up.