Photography Reveals the Way of Seeing the World

For The Art of Instant Gratification, I am fond of the way that Stephen Joel Trachtenberg briefly describes the changes of photography since its birth in 1839. This essay also raises my interest in investigation more about the motivation of taking pictures.

Referring to the history of photography, The Art of Instant Gratification by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg discusses the significance of taking pictures for the masses. From the very beginning of photography, the legend that people relates the portrait to the soul is absurd though has its reason. The knowledge about themselves that most people gain at that period is not enough to explain the images made by photography. Except the mirror, it is the first time that people see their portraits in the images which is very clear and realistic. I still marvel at the magic of light and chemicals on the film today, let alone the surprise of people in early nineteenth century. People’ interest of collecting memory by pictures grows. But technological limitations make it difficult to accessible for the masses. According to Trachtenberg’s essay, until the end of twentieth century, photography became tangible. Today, new techniques allow digital recording images to enjoy a large population. Trachtenberg believes that although the technological development of photography changes many aspects of taking pictures, public’s desire of maintaining their memory remains the same.

The investigation about the significance of photography in this essay triggers my thinking about the meaning of taking pictures for me. Holding my digital camera in hand, I try to imagine the size and complicated procedure of processing film at early nineteenth century. How much effort was devoted to the improvement of photography and camera before we can easily press a button to share the images all around the world? It is true that the satisfy makes people enjoy capturing pictures and transmission of pictures through modern media everyday. We are provided opportunities to collect our memories in a most convenient way in history. The instant gratification serves as a critical reason that inspires the progress. It gradually leads to our dependent on photography today, which reveals that we tend to gain an understanding of ourselves from the images that we capture. The camera is an extension of human eyes following our choices on taking pictures. The way that I choose to take a picture results how the image would appear in many degree. When I was recording images for drift 2, for common subject matters, if I tried a different angle or distance, I would find interesting images. When I look at these pictures, I would find that I am following certain ways to watch this world. The image can be seen as a mirror which reflects my thought about seeing things around me. Watching other artists’ pictures also allows me to study their ways of taking pictures. The more I experiment on my photography, the more I learn about myself. My study leads me to more innovative and inspiring way of seeing the world.