Hey, hey.
Disclaimer: By no means should anyone anywhere use my words against me when some day I get pissy about somebody disturbing my peace just to get a subpar shot of a wonderful view. What I am about to say does not apply to settings that require your cooperation in keeping your shit to yourself, especially weddings. That being said, fuck everyone else that says that you can't shove a camera in front of your face to take that shot.
I wouldn't have had a career if I didn't
Honestly, I don't think I've ever uttered any foul language here but I think this way, my message gets across more clearly. Lately, it's been concert season and there have been a lot of videos and photos on Instagram of people at concerts, watching concerts, being in the front at concerts, and even backstage; so of course there are those that just have to comment the tried and true "why don't you put away your phone for once and be in the moment?". These people can fuck off.
If something significant, not necessarily big but significant nonetheless, happens in your life, would you not want some form of documentation of it?
Getting to see Lifehouse backstage
Seeing T-ARA in Malaysia for the first time
Witnessing the most majestic sunrise ever
Stumbling upon some crazy framing
Eating some of the best food you ever had
Stopping in traffic for pictures of sunsets
Hanging out at Toys 'R Us with your brothers as adults
Remembering the lows and embracing the highs
Celebrating your granddad's birthday for the last time
Saying goodbye to a loved one
If somebody is being courteous and discreet without interfering with the progression of events, what reason do you have as a permanent resident of the comments section to judge them? Personally, if I am ever in a moment where I feel true bliss, true happiness, true joy, I undoubtedly will want to immortalize that moment in a photo or video. Nothing else can trigger a memory better than reliving the moment through a shitty video with shitty audio, but God it feels good to be transported back to that one moment in my life where nothing was falling apart.
Eating on the steps of CBS in NYC, feeding each other Halal Guys on a winter afternoon
Plus, I don't know if it's because I'm done with other people's bullshit, but I couldn't care less if somebody was on their phone the whole time they were at an event. I didn't spend my money to see other people enjoy the concert, I spent money so that I can enjoy the concert. And if I'm sat at home looking through Instagram posts of people at concerts, why would I want to add such a useless comment that wouldn't change the fact that they already spent maybe three seconds to take a photo at a concert that they went without even inviting me? Oh, maybe that's why.
Kinda wish I took even more photos of Mr. Anthony "Cut The Check" Mackie
Telling people to "be in the moment" assumes that they weren't being in the moment in the first place. Being a photographer for as long as I have, I can recall every single moment that I have ever captured on camera. When I am behind my camera, I am not only in the moment, I own the moment. I am the moment because in that moment, I create the moment. And when I capture the moment, the moment stays for as long as I have that photo. So a fleeting moment is now a frozen moment.
A moment is all we really have
Therefore, if you are making somebody feel bad for not being in the moment, you are essentially stealing their moment away. You are perverting their feelings towards their moment; from joy to regret, from nostalgia to trauma. You are the reason people can't be happy, you are the reason people can't enjoy themselves, and you are the reason I am so fucking angry I had to write this entry after months of abandoning this blog.
Just let people live their happy life the way they want while you can go and be miserable in the comments section of a meme page for all I care. If you're so furious at people not putting away their phones, I suggest you do it first.
Until next time.
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