Published: September 5th 2011
Edit Blog PostI toured the Western U.S. by myself for six months in 1997 and did not bring a camera. I have largely forgotten the people I met and I wish that weren’t true. On balance, though, I am overwhelmingly glad that I didn’t bring a camera. Pictures are about remembering the past in the future. That’s obviously true for practical purposes; it is literally why we take them. But the fact that photography, by its very nature, draws you out of the present is something every traveler should strive to be aware of. The one organized tour I took during The Great Freedom (through Egypt—it was awesome) presented ample evidence of this. One moment epitomized it. We had just reached the White Desert (which is worth going well out of your way to see). We approached a cliff. I was sitting in the very back of one of the jeeps, so I was the last to get out. I watched as every single person—16 people—had their cameras not just in hand, but held out in front of them as they approached the edge. Even the married couples—every single person had their eyes locked down. Their first image of this spectacular vista was through a viewfinder. Many of them turned to talk to other people immediately after they finished taking their pictures.
People with cameras often don’t take even a moment to appreciate what they are actually witnessing. I’ve been guilty of going straight for the camera and, when it happens, I try to catch and reproach myself. That moment of reproachment, I think, is a great gift. It’s easy to let life pass you by. Simply knowing that cameras exist can draw me into a moment that I may otherwise let slip by, never to appreciate. Here is what I mean. If you have spent any time in Big Nature, you are aware of how inadequately the pictures that you took convey the experience. A photograph of, say, El Capitan in Yosemite National Park is nothing compared to actually looking at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Even the IMAX 3-D film about Yosemite—the most similar experience to the real thing that currently exists—is not close to the same as
it in front of you, to say nothing of the smells, the breeze, the sounds, the ethereal feeling of a place. The fact that I have a camera or could have a camera makes me consider “capturing” that beauty. To become aware that an experience is worth capturing tells me “Stop. Appreciate this”. I think that this is important. We are not all born with the artist’s innate sensitivity to beauty. If cameras did not exist, I would not hand over the keys to my brain to my senses.
I do take pictures. Oh, yes I do. Forty-five albums for a total of more than 2,400 pictures over the past two years
RayS
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commonalities
A lot of your experiences have common threads with my (and Rudy\'s) third world trips. On taking pictures: I always go in looking and come out using the camera. I\'m insanely economical on shots. And I work to make them beautiful without touchup. Image 5-7 at the games. Yes,these people (almost all are men))are very rabid in their loyalty. They are loyal to teams that haven\'t won diddly in eighty years. It\'s all consuming. Not RayS fans. Image 9: The kids of Nepal are poor and don\'t know it. Some day they may know it and become angry. All they need is the right Imam. Image 10: WE saw a family of 5 on a scooter weaving through Cairo traffic. Mom was amazed. Image 11: Our Nepal group stopped by a bus strike and blockade ouside Pokara. We hired a jeep and four wheeled around the blockade. Image 13. Bus went into ariver in Nepal. Police siad everyone inside drowned. Outside riders did better. Image 14 Kathmandu first trip haircut was what ever you wanted to give and he gave a free neck snap. Next trip they wanted $6.00. Damn. Image 17: In Russia I got in closed restaurants with little solar calculators as bribes. I bought a round of drinks for EVER person in the restaurant (and the band) with the rubles I had from selling calculators from K-Mart. Taxi after hours? one calculator. Naked swimming in Baden-Baden was available for me and Mom. WE took a pass. And lastly getting our credit card stolen right out of the ATM slot in Paris. And yes, I haven\'t even seen all the water falls in Georgia yet, never mind the world!!! Peace/Out/Da