Engaging in the moment through one's lens - reality vs. representation

 

Live at the ice piano for the 2025 World-of-Winter festival

The video version of this scene filled with cameras is online. But the freeze-frame is easier to study here. Of the 50 or 60 audience members who came to the outdoor venue in Canal Street Park in downtown Grand Rapids, perhaps 1/4 or more took out cameras (mainly camera-phones) to snap a memento photo or video clip. Maybe 10 people came with tripods or big cameras and external microphones or both in order to record broadcast quality from the evening to share with others. A few of the professional-looking photo & videographers wore lanyards with photo ID, in what looked like a press pass or other credential to do their job here, in some cases blocking the view of the audience members or getting in each other's way to get the right framing for their compositions.

     Despite the mostly quiet and courteous movements of these photographers, it did nevertheless distract from the sole focus on the piano playing and the lyrics of the songs. But so ubiquitous was the picture taking by a variety of people for a variety of reasons, that it raises the question about this phenomenon: in what ways is one's experience (and by extension, memory and the way to share memories with others) mediated by carrying a powerful device for recording sound, video, and still photographs?

Pianist at the left, photographers at the right

     On the one hand taking pictures or video, and seeing others do so, is normal and possibly even expected these days. In a few situations people are specifically requested NOT to take pictures or video (some airlines include their policy during the preflight announcements: out the window is fine, but not staff or fellow travelers as photo subjects). But on the other hand, the attention diverted to the screen and the controls reduces the person's own embrace or immersion in the moment to moment rhythm and breath of the performance as well as the space that the photographer is part of then. Of course there are hands-off recording devices ("life loggers" or POV action cameras) that do not require any intervention from the person: everything is recorded for later review and selection of relevant segments. That approach might be the best of both worlds: recording but not involving the person who carries the device.

     One way of understanding the frequent use of cellphones for video or photos is something analogous to language itself. Just as many people feel the need to put an experience into words - simple description, or maybe more extended reflection and analysis - the same may be happening visually these days: the person wants to own a fragment of the moment which they can share with others as proof of having been present, as a way to replay the moment, and perhaps to give to others who may have relevant expertise or interest, too. In other words, without articulating the experience in words or images, somehow the moment passes when new things displace it. So reaching for one's cellphone in this case is a way to hold the experience closer than merely spectating as one minute passes after another.

     In any case, the sight of cameras popping up again and again is likely to continue for a long time as more and more people get used to picture-taking for self and for seeing others doing this in formal as well as informal settings. Rather than reacting with annoyance, or the reverse, joining in with the other photographers, it makes sense to understand the several reasons why people consider the positives outnumbering the negatives when pulling out a camera in all sorts of situations that seem significant for personal, professional, or avocational reasons.