Man is an animal composed entirely of needs.
However we try and dress up our basic drives the atavistic animal hidden beneath the skin of reason will out. It is surely depressing to realise how thin the membrane of restraint is when temptation tickles the baser instincts.
A blog, almost by definition, has to be confessional.
This is mine. I do not seek to diminish my fault by pointing out that there are forces which actively encourage me in my actions. I do not look to avoid my own guilt by pointing out that what I do directly keeps people in employment. I articulate no justification in saying that my urges are in synch with the social, political and mercantile forces which determine our society.
I have bought another camera.
I know that I have written of my own astonishment about the number of cameras that emerged when I eventually moved house and had to get rid of a mass of ‘stuff.’ I could have founded an illustrated history of popular photography for the last forty years with my holdings. My cameras (together with those of my parents which, of course, I did not throw away) ranged from simple cameras which were a mere step up from the old Kodak Brownie through the almost forgotten disc cameras to early digital. Along the way were examples of ‘half frame’ cameras; early Russian SLR; compact cameras; mini cameras; cameras using 35mm and those using 110 cartridges. The various Polaroid cameras never seemed to survive long before they became bulky, empty plastic ornaments forever without film and eventually discarded.
The advent of digital cameras as well as being a gadget lover’s delight was also a way of addressing the basic problem with all cameras: you should have something to show for it in the form of photographs. Polaroid seemed to be the answer to all our prayers but the sheer expense more than anything made it impractical. With digital you could see your photo as soon as you had taken it and were able to recall it at a moment’s notice. Of course this led to another problem; that of never having any concrete example of the photos taken. They now exist in another form on computer hard disks, the memory of cameras and on the odd ipod.
Why, I hear you ask, have I bought yet another camera when I have been quoted as saying that my latest Casio is the best that I have ever had?
If you have to ask questions like that then you don’t understand the Lure of the Gadget!
‘Stuff’ magazine (which has a lot to answer for) was where I first saw something which whetted my materialistic and novelty seeking impulses. With my eyesight, small screens are a definite negative so a screen of more than 3” was interesting. Part of my discarding of past cameras was part of the Search for a Decent Sized Screen. That was my excuse anyway!
The real reason for buying this camera was that this large screen was actually touch sensitive. Not only a touch sensitive screen but also a camera which possessed the capability of applying special effects to pictures taken - in the camera itself! If that last exclamation mark seems to you to be inexplicable or overstated than I have to say that we move in very different worlds. So there!
Anyway, I have bought the thing and have already exhausted two battery worth’s of time in exploring the technical capabilities of the machine – or playing with it if you prefer.
So far I have ‘created’ ‘in camera’ ‘photographic masterpieces’ that have included a kaleidoscope image based on Toni’s nephew when he was still for a couple of seconds and an impressionist style abstract cross based on a massively ‘treated’ photograph of a section of the coffee table. Such inventiveness will, I am sure, end in artistic tears!
Tomorrow subjects new to reduce to pixels.
Be afraid Castelldefels!
However we try and dress up our basic drives the atavistic animal hidden beneath the skin of reason will out. It is surely depressing to realise how thin the membrane of restraint is when temptation tickles the baser instincts.
A blog, almost by definition, has to be confessional.
This is mine. I do not seek to diminish my fault by pointing out that there are forces which actively encourage me in my actions. I do not look to avoid my own guilt by pointing out that what I do directly keeps people in employment. I articulate no justification in saying that my urges are in synch with the social, political and mercantile forces which determine our society.
I have bought another camera.
I know that I have written of my own astonishment about the number of cameras that emerged when I eventually moved house and had to get rid of a mass of ‘stuff.’ I could have founded an illustrated history of popular photography for the last forty years with my holdings. My cameras (together with those of my parents which, of course, I did not throw away) ranged from simple cameras which were a mere step up from the old Kodak Brownie through the almost forgotten disc cameras to early digital. Along the way were examples of ‘half frame’ cameras; early Russian SLR; compact cameras; mini cameras; cameras using 35mm and those using 110 cartridges. The various Polaroid cameras never seemed to survive long before they became bulky, empty plastic ornaments forever without film and eventually discarded.
The advent of digital cameras as well as being a gadget lover’s delight was also a way of addressing the basic problem with all cameras: you should have something to show for it in the form of photographs. Polaroid seemed to be the answer to all our prayers but the sheer expense more than anything made it impractical. With digital you could see your photo as soon as you had taken it and were able to recall it at a moment’s notice. Of course this led to another problem; that of never having any concrete example of the photos taken. They now exist in another form on computer hard disks, the memory of cameras and on the odd ipod.
Why, I hear you ask, have I bought yet another camera when I have been quoted as saying that my latest Casio is the best that I have ever had?
If you have to ask questions like that then you don’t understand the Lure of the Gadget!
‘Stuff’ magazine (which has a lot to answer for) was where I first saw something which whetted my materialistic and novelty seeking impulses. With my eyesight, small screens are a definite negative so a screen of more than 3” was interesting. Part of my discarding of past cameras was part of the Search for a Decent Sized Screen. That was my excuse anyway!
The real reason for buying this camera was that this large screen was actually touch sensitive. Not only a touch sensitive screen but also a camera which possessed the capability of applying special effects to pictures taken - in the camera itself! If that last exclamation mark seems to you to be inexplicable or overstated than I have to say that we move in very different worlds. So there!
Anyway, I have bought the thing and have already exhausted two battery worth’s of time in exploring the technical capabilities of the machine – or playing with it if you prefer.
So far I have ‘created’ ‘in camera’ ‘photographic masterpieces’ that have included a kaleidoscope image based on Toni’s nephew when he was still for a couple of seconds and an impressionist style abstract cross based on a massively ‘treated’ photograph of a section of the coffee table. Such inventiveness will, I am sure, end in artistic tears!
Tomorrow subjects new to reduce to pixels.
Be afraid Castelldefels!
No comments:
Post a Comment