Camera Krazy

I was up on the High-Line yesterday & you would have thought some massive photo shoot was going on. Every other person had a DSLR w/a serious lens while everyone one else had their point & shoot out taking pics...of the scenery, each other, people not aware they were being photographed etc...

I'm just not quite sure how crazy I am about everyone running around with a camera all day long taking pics of everything. I just love it how people just stop on the street to take pics seemingly oblivious that they are on a busy street in Manhattan & don't understand why the world doesn't stop so they can get a picture of whatever catches their inner artistic eye...

For the record I'm very much into photography, own a bunch of film & digital cameras, have Schatz, Stuht,& Schiller up on my walls & loads of books by Haskens, Dweck, Brandt, etc...My Father was an avid high end amateur photographer that had done some professional work & developed color prints in his own dark room. He drove us nuts as kids taking pictures all the time especially anywhere we went for a day trip or vacation. Yet I don't remember seeing a lot of others doing it. Back then we only had film cameras & you had to know for the most part what you were doing...with the exception of the Polaroid, but again just don't remember seeing people ALL over the places snapping off pics.

Now with the digital point & shoots everyone walks around all day long taking pics of EVERYTHING. I think with the exception of Sports Bars(then again...the Magners Hard Cider girl did take a pic of me drinking with the Magners label out at the Blind Pig last night...LOOK for ME in the next Magners campaign!) you can't go to a bar without having to deal with everyone constantly taking group shots (my cousin being possibly the worst offender of this) oh look we're in a bar AGAIN having a drink...eating brunch, dinner etc...Do we really need to record everything we do...Do we need to constantly take pictures just because we can? At my family dinners instead of one person taking a few pics...half the people there are firing off their cameras...it's like a fashion shoot for my Niece & Nephew with all the flashes going off.

While I'm a gadget guy & have committed many of the crimes listed above I try to use some common sense & stay aware of my surroundings...I guess I just feel it's become a bit too much when you can't walk down the street without ending up on someones camera...I hope you enjoyed my rant...