The most profound photo I've seen for a long time....

[Heartstrings]

Be..In..The..Moment

[CountAllVotes]

1. Don't have one of these things

and don't want one of these things.

They isolate you whether you realize it or not as life goes marching by.

[Kirk Lover]

3. Nope that is the users choice. I make sure to put my phone away. I don't mess with it while

walking or in the elevator or out with others. I mute it most of the time.

It has been indispensable this phone....but it's this extreme usage that is quite annoying, but again that is the users choice.

[CountAllVotes]

42. In-laws came to visit from abroad

The whole time they were here I felt as if I was competing with the phone for their attention. It was rude to say the least.

There is a time and a place for everything IMO.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Looks like everyone's having a great time.

[dhol82]

4. Not everyone is taking a picture.

One woman is in the moment.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

6. It ain't real unless it's on a 'lectronic screen.

Corporate distractions abound.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. people see what they want to see in this photo.

[hlthe2b]

5. At least they aren't all dragging around big video cameras or DSL cameras with telephoto lenses

like they did when I was growing up...

I agree the simple experience of "being there" gets lost with all that, but these distractions have been around for some time... Only the technology has changed.

[dhol82]

7. Yes, it is so much more intimate when you only use your phone.

[LakeArenal]

8. I betcha she has a phone, too

She just remembers how to have a great time.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

9. I've got a flip phone.

And it's staying that way.

I know me... I'd be addicted to an iPhone.

[rickford66]

38. They won't be supported for long.

I just got rid of my phone and found out some of the features weren't even working, like the backups.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

46. I fear you are correct.

[oberliner]

10. By staring at celebrities instead of taking pictures of them?

[Heartstrings]

12. Point is...

We don't know what she's looking at, could be her grandchild in a parade, but she's enjoying viewing it first hand rather than through a phone.

[Cha]

47. smh.. Yes, the Point is.. she's in the

Moment.

Excellent pic, Heartstrings.

[Cracklin Charlie]

11. Smart lady knows how to take a picture.

Plus, she’s adorable.

[MineralMan]

13. I love it. One person is taking in a memory.

The rest are taking pictures. You see it everywhere. Here's a group of tourists at Buckingham Palace. They're seeing the huge palace on little 4-5" screens, when the palace is right there to take in and store in their memories. You can buy beautiful postcards of every major landmark right there, but you're taking a little digital photo of it, instead of actually seeing it. Amazing!

[tblue37]

17. When I used to travel in Europe and Mexico, I always just bought postcards instead of taking

Last edited Mon May 28, 2018, 04:18 PM - Edit history (1)

pictures of the places I visited. The postcards were much better photos than I could produce, and it was cheapr than having multiple rolls of film developed. The only pics I took were of people I was with.

[MineralMan]

19. Yup. Me, too. I record memories, not video.

I capture experiences, not photos. That way, when I think back on the trip, I have a very clear picture of what I saw and experienced.

[Grammy23]

26. I also keep a travel journal with details of the day that I put in a journal

Selected for that trip. Some of the best times I have had is reading our travel journals with my niece. She and our spouses have made many trips together including an Alaskan cruise, NYC. At Christmas, New England for leaf peeping season, Yellowstone and Italy, France, Belgium and Amsterdam. Reading those details brought back memories that had slipped a bit. I included especially good meals we enjoyed, interesting people we met or saw and encounters that we wanted to remember. There was much laughter remembering some of our escapes here in the US and in Europe.

If there was one thing I would tell anyone to do when they travel it is to keep a journal. Just a few notes jotted before bedtime will give you a view of the trip that will be priceless in the years to come.

[MineralMan]

28. What a good idea!

Thanks!

I've been fortunate to have an excellent memory. I can replay almost everything from my life in considerable detail, so I've never kept journals. But, they're an excellent idea and can capture emotions as well as the details of an experience.

[Grammy23]

34. I pride myself on having a good memory, especially for minor details.

But I was surprised at some of the details I had forgotten. We laughed until tears ran down our faces as we read my impression of trying to cross a busy street in Florence, Italy. Those memories are precious and made even richer by reading my impressions at the time. The food descriptions are another fun thing to recall, especially the European trips that were filled with new edible experiences. The four of us (my niece, her husband, my husband and moi) have a river cruise scheduled in France in October and you can be sure a travel journal will be tucked in my carry-on!

[MineralMan]

35. Bon Voyage!

Have a wonderful trip!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

45. My dad would complain about a photo without one of us in it.

He would say why not just buy a postcard?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

43. Why can't they do both. Look then snap?

[Tarc]

14. A "young people and there darn technology" thread? Seriously?

[lunasun]

30. The dude upfront with his phone has a grey beard not young imo

[lamp_shade]

15. Sweet.

[tblue37]

16. People don't have celebratory occasions any more--just photo ops. nt

[LakeArenal]

20. What does it say about the person

Taking pictures of people taking pictures? Then gets it out there as a judgement on people taking pictures?

[Blue_Adept]

21. I'm sure they were taking pictures the ENTIRE time too

I love "back in my day" posts.

You can be in the moment 99% of the time but get a picture snapped of you when you're capturing a moment yourself? And you're the poster child for what's wrong with society.

[KatyMan]

25. Exactly.

Why can't people enjoy an event in their own way? What if it's a float in a parade with their kids on it? Why be so judgemental?

[Blue_Adept]

27. It's because we're in outrage culture mixed with superiority complexes that must be fed

Having been involved with online stuff since the 80's on the old BBS system (110 baud!) I've seen so much online culture that this was its arc to be sure. And it's reminding me why I'm pulling further and further away from it all.

[MineralMan]

29. Well, I remember a very touching ceremony I attended a few years ago.

It was the transfer of a samurai sword taken by a US soldier after WWII. The ceremony returned the sword to the original owner's family. I attended it because it was such a touching story, and the local newspaper wrote about it. So I went to the ceremony.

Sadly, I did not get to see the actual transfer. A woman in the row of seats ahead of me was holding up an iPad, right in front of my field of vision, as she recorded what happened as a video. Her iPad completely blocked my view of the ceremony.

So, I did not get to enjoy the event, because someone else was selfishly recording it. How about that? Sometimes things are not just about what one person wants. Life is funny that way.

[DangerousRhythm]

41. Exactly.

I hate when people try to tell me how I should enjoy something. I like taking pictures. "Be in the moment" is a stupid phrase I'm beyond tired of hearing because I AM in the moment and capturing something which I love or which I am enjoying. My memory isn't the best sometimes and a photo helps bring those feelings back.

I especially notice this being said about concerts. Well, I can tell you that about 95% of the time I'm behind someone who's very tall and all I have from my own eyes is a view of their armpits or their hats, being barely 5' tall. It's hard to "be in the moment" when you can't even see what's happening on the stage. I can get great photos, though, and sometimes I actually can see what's happening through other people's cameras and I appreciate them. I've been into photography since the 80s and it brings me endless enjoyment to be able to capture something fleeting.

Just let people enjoy things the way THEY want to enjoy it. It doesn't cost anything to keep out of people's business.

[Stuart G]

22. This is a wonderful picture..Thank you.. Heartstrings...for posting this. Incredible beyond words!!

[Heartstrings]

23. You're welcome Stuart G!

[LiberalLovinLug]

24. Its insidious

I remember being out and there was some gorgeous scene in front of me and I reached in my pocket and to my shock and horror, I realized I had forgotten to bring my iphone! But then as I had to give up on the idea of recording the image for later, and was FORCED to have to take it in where it was only me and the scene, I remember how I became self aware of how much I was getting out of the beauty in front of me in stead of fumbling for my camera.

Face it, how much time is actually spent later fawning over the picture one takes days later? We seem to think we can not only capture the image, but the whole experience, and save it for later. When all you have is one chance to actually experience it completely.

There are some moments that we should record for posterity. But everyone should pause in moments like this to choose what they really want. A great experience or try and be an amateur photographer, and archivist that will give you only a small percent of the feeling and emotion and experience of simply living the moment.

[lunasun]

31. I attended a phone/ camera / smart watch free music concert in April . No one suffered

Except one Yondr pouch laying on the floor I saw at the end
someone had cut it open anyway

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/how-yondr-is-creating-phone-free-concerts-w517177
As comedian Dave Chappelle, a Yondr enthusiast recently told an audience, "You all need a break from that shit.
His show is also ph free
Yondr
Yondr's pouches, used by Jack White, Haim, Chris Rock and more. Yondr
Yondr provides its own staff for events. Justin Timberlake recently used it for an album-listening party, and promoters who'd never heard of Yondr last year are starting to accept it as a requirement for working with certain artists. "You're not hiring the coat-checker to do it," says Andy Cirzan, a vice president for Chicago's Jam Productions. "This is a tried-and-true method from a company that has thought it through." Dugoni, who also works with schools to wean students away from intensive phone use, repeats the word "experience" to describe device-free concerts.

[Collimator]

32. Remember a story. . .

. . . about a bunch of people situated in a premo sweet suite at a football stadium. The adults were watching the game playing out through the window of their suite. The kids had their backs turned and were watching the game on the TV screen on the back wall.

Why the screen was even there is a question. But since there was a large spread of food at the back of the seating box, I quess it would be easier to look up at a screen while putting snacks on a plate if you suddenly heard cheering than to whip your head around and risk flinging steamed shrimp or whatever as you turned to catch a play.

BTW, no one is exactly heaping stern judgment upon those choosing to take pictures. The OP is just making a point. Photos and video of a given occasion can certainly be nice and useful. But living in the moment-- truly being immersed in a sensory experience is what it means to be alive.

I have felt more fully alive mourning a friend at the top of my lungs in private then many people whose focus is divided between recording something to show others rather than feeling it to the depths of their being when it is really happening.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

44. Thanks for that story and your reflections.

I relate entirely to what you said about mourning and had similar overwhelming experiences alone out in the wild with nature.

In my years of travel, I typically just took a few key shots with a small pocket camera - places like the Oregon coast and the high desert in Wyoming. Years later, those serve as memory triggers to help my old mind recall the good stuff, and bring a few tears as well.

.........

[appleannie1943]

33. Future generations will remember the backs of phones and cameras instead of actual events.

She is seeing the whole thing, they are seeing a snapshot.

[lunatica]

36. I see that photo as very humorous and so typical of our times

It’s a perfect catch of our transitional times.

I like it very much. It’s sweet.

[TNNurse]

37. Last summer we had an eclipse party.

I took some photos of our friends, but during the event I put the camera down and watched and felt and enjoyed.

[TexasBushwhacker]

39. The thing is, even though phone cameras have improved a lot

over the last few years, the pictures people take with them at events like this are usually shitty. As long as I have a memory, I'll be that old lady. I would like to switch back to a flip phone, but I need the GPS on my smart phone.

[MissB]

40. Yes.

My kid took a picture last week of people taking pictures of the Mona Lisa. Yeah, he also got a picture of the Mona Lisa but the subject of the photo of people taking pictures.

Like this one, it reminded me of people just relying on their phones rather than engaging in the works around them.

As I sit here typing in my phone.....

[greyl]

48. Good point, obviously, but thank the same goodness for those recording the event

so those who weren't there might witness it later.