> And being a photographer i think really does alter your way of looking at things imo for the worse.
Curious why you believe this?
Personally, my experience of the world expanded significantly when I bought a camera in my early 30s.
It forced me to notice things I’d never noticed before. It trained me to open my awareness. It helped me see more beauty, experience more awe, and become more attuned to the environments I’m in.
I also have aphantasia - my mind’s eye is blind - and photography helps me remember things in a way I otherwise cannot.
Anything can be taken to the extreme and become a problem. But I couldn’t disagree more for the general case. Most of the photographers I’ve met since I started doing this have been wonderful people with perspectives that helped me broaden my own.
I’ve also met people who can’t put the camera down and tend to annoy the people around them. But this is a small subset.
I guess I'm viewing this through my own personal experiences and world view. Everyone I've seen who's a compulsive photographer doesn't have this heightened awareness for details. Instead, they're, at best, people who know how to manipulate a "scene" to get a better photo.
The thing is that every thing in the real world is a photo subject for them rather than an experience. And i think the deeper down the hole they go, the less they realise this.
I had not factored in conditions like aphantasia into my thoughts and in that context, i can agree that it would be useful but i imagine that it's not a very common condition so it's an outlier?
For many people I've met, the first time they see something, it's through their phone/camera because they don't want to "miss the moment". I'd rather let it linger in my head as a memory and age.
I can't take disagree with your point of view but i think it's mostly because our experiences are so different.
Curious why you believe this?
Personally, my experience of the world expanded significantly when I bought a camera in my early 30s.
It forced me to notice things I’d never noticed before. It trained me to open my awareness. It helped me see more beauty, experience more awe, and become more attuned to the environments I’m in.
I also have aphantasia - my mind’s eye is blind - and photography helps me remember things in a way I otherwise cannot.
Anything can be taken to the extreme and become a problem. But I couldn’t disagree more for the general case. Most of the photographers I’ve met since I started doing this have been wonderful people with perspectives that helped me broaden my own.
I’ve also met people who can’t put the camera down and tend to annoy the people around them. But this is a small subset.