From ‘The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty’…
Walter Mitty: When are you gonna take it? [the picture]
Sean O’Conner: Sometimes I don’t. If I like a moment… I mean, me, personally… I don’t like to have the distraction of the camera. Just want to stay in it.
Walter: Stay in it?
Sean: Yeah, right there. Right here. (After a pause) Now it’s gone, it’s gone.
Unlike Sean, I always found myself in a dilemma when it comes to trying to seize the best moment with a photo, or to just savour the moment there and then. I used to lie to myself, thinking that the photos that I took will help me remember that precise ‘wow’ moments that I missed paying full attention to in real life, that they can tell me more stories with fuller details than what I can take in within such a short span of time.
However, when I look back at the photos I took, that specialness is not there. Those precise urges that made me take the photos, the adrenaline rush, they were all not captured. I came to a conclusion that maybe I’m just a lousy photographer. Or static images are just not the same compared to when you are in the moment with your subjects. I choose to believe the latter. The camera though a useful tool, as Sean put it, is a distraction too. It can take away our potential of being totally aware, our patience to just ‘stay in it’.
The next time you find that kodak moment, don’t hurry to snap it. Just be as aware as you can to savour the moment. You will probably have more enticing stories to tell than just looking at some glossy photos that make you wonder what really happened that day beyond freeze frames. The best photos are taken by our awareness. It is like meditation – you have to become one with the environment. You become totally aware and you realise there are no individuals or separation… just togetherness, interconnectedness.