Through the Lens: A Love-Hate Relationship with Photography

You know, when it comes to photos, I kinda have a weird relationship with it, like, it's not that I hate photos or anything, I mean who hates photos, but I'm not really a big fan of taking photos, not just of myself, but of other stuff like surroundings, animals, and other things. I can't quite explain it, but I'll try.

Think about it, every time someone pulls out a camera, or rather, nowadays we're more with phones equipped with better lenses than cameras, it feels like the world around me freezes. I'm not just talking about people, but everything, you know? It's like suddenly real life turns into a photo set, and I'm forced to be part of this mime show. Then comes that forced smile, that pose that makes it seem like it's not even me there, it's like I become an extra character in a bad movie, you get me?

Another thing that bothers me is that it seems like photos always capture a moment, but never its essence. Like, when I look at a photo, I can't feel the emotion I was feeling when it was taken. It all seems so... artificial, you know, I can't quite explain it through a post, but that's the feeling I have. Oh, and there's one more thing. I think photos take away a bit of the magic of the moment, you know those special moments we experience? Sometimes we're so focused on taking the perfect photo that we forget to truly live the moment. Like, instead of enjoying that wonderful sunset, we're there trying to find the perfect angle for the photo, and then when we look at the photo album later, it feels like we didn't really live any of it, we just took photos.

That reminds me of people who go to expensive restaurants just to take a photo of an expensive dish, damn you guys.

But you know, even with all these "buts" that I'm mentioning here, I'm not gonna say I hate photos. After all, they have the power to immortalize moments, even if in a somewhat artificial or illusory way. Sometimes it's nice to look at a photo and remember how we were feeling that day, even if it's not the same as being there for real. And then there are those spontaneous photos, the ones that capture the essence of a real moment. The ones that weren't planned, but end up being the most special. I think those are the photos that are really worth it, the ones that manage to capture the soul of a moment, instead of just recording a rehearsed pose.

Yeah, I like random photos as a distraction, although I still hate taking photos of myself or anything else.

So, in the end, I think my relationship with photos is kinda ambiguous since I'm not a fan of them, but I don't hate them either. I think each photo has its own story, its magic, its essence. And maybe, if we look with the right eyes, even that most posed photo can have a little bit of soul.

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Text created for the InLeo Monthly Prompt, check in April Inleo Monthly Calendar Now Here! Day 18: Paparazzis, Photo Dump, Evolution of Photography

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