modernandmaterialthings:

“Documentary vision is kind of like the “camera eye” photographers develop when, after taking many photos, they begin to see the world as always a potential photo even when not holding the camera at all. The habit of the photographer involuntarily framing and composing the world has become a metaphor for those trained to document using social media. The explosion of ubiquitous self-documentation possibilities, and the audience for our documents that social media promises, has positioned us to live life in the present with the constant awareness of how it will be perceived as having already happened. We come to see what we do as always a potential document, imploding the present with the past, and ultimately making us nostalgic for the here and now.”

Is this a bad thing? I’m honestly having a hard time telling from the tone of the quote if we should be viewing this a good thing or a bad thing. I personally think it’s great.

 Photographers and artists, by and large, have a greater appreciation for natural beauty as a result of their intimacy with their craft. Journalists learn to explore their environment in ways that are beneficent them well outside the scope of their career. 

Why don’t we embrace the idea that everyone is a potential documentary maker in the making. Why don’t we encourage (teach, even) the coming generation how to embrace the idea that everyone has the ability (the duty?) to capture and record that which is noteworthy.

What, but good, could come from that?