Obsessive need to photograph, video or otherwise record

Does anyone else feel this way?

Whenever anything happens, or doesn't happen, I am always reaching for a camera. Whether it be to collect still images or footage, I often need to record what I see. Why are some of us like this?

Is it because, when you have a camera in your hand, you implicitly remove yourself from the action and become an observer? Am I wanting to remove myself from actively participating?

Or, when you 'view' a situation through a lens, you put yourself in control of what you are seeing, thereby 'authoring' or commenting on the moment rather than letting it happen?

Is it imposing a false sense of order by making the intangible visual? Giving the big, big, infinite, unknowable world substantial physical form? 'To have squeezed the universe into a ball' TS Eliot would say. (Wow I feel pretentious for writing that.)

Is it fear that if I don't capture the moments, I'll lose them?

Is that why so many people carry around pictures of their loved ones in their wallets or put them up next to their desks at work? To hold onto a piece of that person? To be reminded of those transcendent moments of intimacy that make life worthwhile?

Maybe it is the joy of creating something aesthetically pleasing? Or imbuing the physical with your own meaning.

Is it that life happens so quickly and wonderful moments can be so fleeting that to have a record is a beautiful thing to treasure, like shells you collect at the beach after a long day in the sun?

It's like holding the ocean in your hand.


Mood: Cracker Barrel cheese and crackers and acoustic guitar