Photography is one of my favorite things to do, and traveling brings about incredible opportunities for photography. 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). Someone comes across an incredible sight, and immediately whips out their camera and take a picture of it—instead of taking it in and experiencing the feeling. 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?
I think we have different motives based on our environment. If I leave my hostel in the morning without my camera, 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 my mind is thinking—one for travel, one for photography—and that results in less time and mindshare devoted to experiencing the moment.