Photography is one of my favorite things to do, and it’s heaps better while traveling. However, I’ve always been wary that photography might be detracting from the experience of traveling.
I see this constantly with tourists in every city I’ve been to, including the one I’m in right now (Bilbao, Spain). They come across an incredible sight and immediately whip out their camera and take a picture of it—instead of taking it in and experiencing the feeling, or thinking about how it makes them feel. And a lot of the time, after the snapshot is saved, they take a glance at the subject and move on to whatever’s next.
On this trip, I’ve experimented with not using my camera for the entire day, not even taking it with me, and just being in the moment. The result is: I do feel like I’m experiencing the moment more, and I’m more appreciative of the places I go. But why?
My hypothesis is that we have different motives based on our environment. If I leave my hostel in the morning without my camera, mobile phone, or anything other than a few bucks in my pocket and a beat-up map, my motive is to travel—to see things, to experience new settings, to meet new people. When I see something incredible, I only have one motive: to experience it. I might say “this is amazing. I wonder how people lived when they were here,” and think about it.
But if I’m with my camera, I have two motives. One is to travel and experience new things. The other is to take awesome photos. When I come across something interesting, I have one thought for each motive. The travel motive says, “this is amazing. I wonder how people lived when they were here.” The take photos motive says, “this would make a great photo. I wonder how I might frame this shot.”
And both compete for congitive attention. So, instead of just having a single motive to experience the moment, there are two things your mind is thinking—one for travel, one for photography—and that results in less time and mindshare devoted to experiencing the moment.
I was actually talking to my co-worker about this on the ride into work this morning. When I was in New Zealand last week, I had this tendency to bring my camera with me everywhere. The one time I didn't bring my phone or my camera with me I found that it's a really beautiful thing to live in that moment - and I think that that personal connection you get to places is much stronger and deeper.