Why I Don't Like Cameras
1. Because I don't want my life to be an act of consumption, but it feels like one when people are preoccupied with acquiring pictures of their adventures and holidays so that they can have something tangible to take home and add to their collection.
2. Because photos do a poor job of preserving a moment; what they include pales compared to what they crop out. Even more, they promote the illusion of immortality--they try to "preserve" what can only really be remembered, a distinction that my mind knows better than a mechanical lens does.
3. Because being ordered to halt, huddle together, tilt your head and smile can really mess up the flow of a good time; because smiling, at times, can be an act of complete dishonesty.
4. Because photo albums don't tell stories, people do; because Hollywood erodes the value of storytelling as a local craft and responsibility from one end, and Kodak does from the other end.
And still . . . to be inconsistent is honest, and to be malleable is virtuous:
monsoon greenery
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Mussoorie from the top of Woodstock School
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
some of my boys on Indian Independence Day
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Hannah and I on Independence Day
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
monkey!
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Woodstock dorms from above
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Cows in a nearby temple yard--India at it's finest
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
2. Because photos do a poor job of preserving a moment; what they include pales compared to what they crop out. Even more, they promote the illusion of immortality--they try to "preserve" what can only really be remembered, a distinction that my mind knows better than a mechanical lens does.
3. Because being ordered to halt, huddle together, tilt your head and smile can really mess up the flow of a good time; because smiling, at times, can be an act of complete dishonesty.
4. Because photo albums don't tell stories, people do; because Hollywood erodes the value of storytelling as a local craft and responsibility from one end, and Kodak does from the other end.
And still . . . to be inconsistent is honest, and to be malleable is virtuous:
monsoon greenery
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Mussoorie from the top of Woodstock School
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
some of my boys on Indian Independence Day
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Hannah and I on Independence Day
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
monkey!
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Woodstock dorms from above
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
Cows in a nearby temple yard--India at it's finest
Originally uploaded by jhiskes.
posted by Jonathan Hiskes at 12:54 AM
3 Comments:
Jon,
Thanks for posting these!
Those of us imagining from afar your near experiences appreciate your accommodation. Besides, do not all artifacts, including pictures, tell a story? But we look forward to your verbal story-telling as well. Thanks for blogging.
Hannah's Random Parental Unit.
I should add that I admire any effort to be thoughtful about adopting a technology and considering its personal, social, and environmental impacts.
HRPU
I dare say you will learn to appreciate cameras a bit more as you grow older, especially if you have children. Some things CANNOT be remembered as well as a picture (such as the candid expression on a child's face)and some things WILL NOT be remembered due to (aaargh!) advancing age!
Love your blogs, especially the glimpses into your heart and soul.
-One of Hannah's weird relatives
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