Why

  I'm not a photographer but I take pictures. I began that in earnest with the emergence of digital photography. The reason is a simple one, cost. Buying a roll of film wasn't bad it was the cost of getting it developed that was prohibitive. Well, that and I had to remember to take it to the drug store to drop it off. I still occasionally find a roll of undeveloped film. I laugh as I realize it is now an artifact from a bygone era. Today, we can take a picture with our phones, I suspect more snapshots are taken with a phone than with a dedicated cameras these days. No doubt about selfies! Heck I've even taken a selfie. 

  I'm amused when I think about all of that. Back in the day the majority of pictures taken of people were posed. It was only the young and frivolous that went around just snapping pictures willy-nilly. I remember well my dad directing the scene, you stand in the back you're taller, smile, look at the camera. Everyone had to be ready. The camera only came out for "occasions." Birthdays, holidays and company. Wasn't much picture taking going on other than that at my house. I heard about other families having home movies and such, getting family portraits taken in a studio, but we never did any of that. School pictures was as close as I got. 

  It was the frivolous youth that took those candid shots. Well, even the candid shots weren't exactly candid as you generally were aware of the camera. Funny thing is, that hasn't changed all that much. You can't be much more aware of the camera than when you are taking a selfie! I've always liked the candid pictures much better, and still do. I get annoyed when I'm trying to take a picture and the person stops to stare and pose at the camera. That isn't what I wanted. It's my feeling those candid shots capture the essence of the person a lot better than any posed situation. I can't explain that, it's just a feeling. I even get that when I see old photographs of people I never knew, in places I've never been. 

  Now today we are taking pictures and video all the time. We have automatic cameras on our front porches, back decks, in various rooms in the house, on street lamps and city streets. Future generations will not have to guess about anything, it is all being recorded. And there will be lots of candid moments captured as we have become almost unaware of that recording. I know I don't often think about that as I'm shopping in the stores or walking down a street. The truth is, it is all being recorded. How much of that will be preserved for the future? I expect a great deal of the everyday stuff will eventually be deleted. You hear about facial recognition technology sorting through hours of video and pinpointing an individual. It isn't a concern to me as I'm not doing anything criminal. I also have no expectation of privacy when I'm in public, that's why they call it public. 

  It is an amazing thing the number of photographs I have taken personally. I wouldn't have believed it if I was told that in the past. I have pictures on compact discs, sd cards, external drives, hard drives and even in the clouds. Not exactly sure where the cloud is, or how to access that, but I'm told they are there. I pay $3.95 a month for that. I can download them if I want but I'm told they are far more secure in that cloud. I'm not sure why I'm concerned about that but I am. Well, I suppose it just falls under the category of my "stuff." We all have our stuff that we want to last, to be around, long after we are gone. I'm more concerned for the stuff I have inherited over the years, than the stuff I currently have, but still don't want my stuff to be thrown out. 

  I got thinking about this after seeing a picture of my father. He was in the Army Air Force during world war two. He was drafted into service and answered the call to duty. He was trained to be a flight engineer for B-24 bombers. The Army Air Force, yes there was no Air Force back then, it was just a part of the army. The did have there own song, Off we go into the wild blue yonder, the actual title being, The U.S. Air Force. How creative a title is that. In this picture he is sitting in front of the radio, leaned in and tuning in the station. What was he listening to? Was it the hit parade or news of the war. He is in a barracks setting, so probably still in training, but it could have been barracks somewhere else. He flew missions in the China-India-Burma field of operations. I don't think they had barracks like those anywhere over there. 

  But it is a candid photograph, he wasn't paying attention to whoever took that picture. All I know is that it was taken in 1944, that is written on the back. I can only guess that some buddy of his took that picture, later giving it him to send back home. When I was first in the Navy a scenario like that was common enough. Back in the 1970's we didn't have digital cameras, cell phones or any of that stuff. We just took pictures with our cameras and got the film developed. Sometimes the pictures came out, sometimes they didn't and sometimes we shared what we had with our buddies. Something to send home, in the mail, using actual stamps and everything. I have very few photographs from my time in the navy. The reason is simple enough, when you are there it is everyday, commonplace and nothing special about it. Why take pictures. In the future people will be wondering, why did they take all these pictures?