I went to the Zoo recently and I couldn’t believe how many people immediately whip out their phones to film the animals in the exhibit.
Like, if looking at images of animals on your phone was anywhere near as enjoyable as seeing them in person, why even pay to come to the fucking zoo!?
The animal you are looking at is already existing within a dead facsimile of its actual environment! It’s already like looking at an image!
Do people really go back and look at these images and videos and feel the same feeling as when they’re looking a marmoset of exotic bird right in the eyes a few feet away from them?
It feels like we’ve all become trained to whip out our phones and start filming the moment anything interesting starts happening. The way everyone prefers this mediated experience to just being in reality experiencing art or living things or a concert or whatever just makes me feel kind of bleak. To me this is a great example of what is meant when we talk about Alienation.
Anyone else agree or am I being a grumpy geriatric shaking my fist at the kids on my lawn?
I mostly agree, but there is some subtlety.
Taking pictures of an event or thing is pretty weird. But taking a few pictures of friends and family is great. Going to the zoo to take a picture of an animal is pretty silly, but getting a quick snap of my kids seeing a giraffe for the first time is pretty great. Same with taking a selfie with my friends at a concert. Obviously, I’m not spending a lot of time trying to set up an instagram perfect photo, just a quick candid here and there.
I love seeing them show up in various timeline apps and albums later and remembering the day.
In short, take quick pictures of your loved ones and then enjoy the moment.
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