<Google Pixel XL Camera - https://www.androidcentral.com/google-pixel-lens-flare-what-it-and-how-avoid-it>
I grew up in the smartphone generation. I had the iPhone 4, then the 5, then the 6 and so on. Each time a new phone was released there was a long list of upgrades but the one feature that seemed to be of the utmost importance was the camera. Today I work in retail selling the smartphones that I grew up with, and still the number one request of shoppers is a “good camera”. The advances in smartphone camera technology have transformed a predominantly professional practice into an “unavoidable aspect of everyday life” (Hand, 2013, pp. 1-3). Of course, there is no use in taking these photos if no-one is going to see them which is why photo-sharing platforms like Flickr, Instagram and Snapchat have become part of people’s daily routine.
Photography is now considered ‘ubiquitous’, meaning it is found everywhere. I do not post regularly on social media but instead find myself scrolling through pages of photos – some important, some not, but I still check my news feed every day. Social networking sites are extremely important in modern cultural, political and social life (Hjorth & Hendry, 2015, pp.1), we use them to offer friends a window into our lives, but the life we put on show is often not accurate. I briefly covered the idea of a ‘social self’ in my blog post from Week 1 and the ability to create online masks to hide who we really are.
I titled this post ‘Life through a lens’ because I’d like to focus on the adoption of apps like Snapchat, and more recently Instagram and Facebook stories. One of my friends, Luke, is a popular DJ in Melbourne and recently shared an article about the effects that smartphone photography appears to be having on our memory. You can find the article here, but something that is truly concerning is our reliance on this technology as a memory tool. Resnick (2018) explains that the first step to creating a memory is for our brains to be paying attention, if we do not pay attention then we cannot expect our brains to retain information.
<Cameras in the crowd - https://qz.com/718939/apple-patented-a-way-to-keep-people-from-filming-at-concerts-and-movie-theaters-on-their-phones/>
Luke’s concerns grew from constantly looking into a crowd and seeing nothing but the flash of smartphone cameras – something he believes is detrimental to the experience for both himself and the crowd. This poses a serious question about our reliance on these technologies, how much damage is our constant desire to capture our surroundings doing to our brain?
Memory aside, another worrying aspect of this new generation of amateur photographer, is the effect that it has on people’s ideas of body image and self-worth. Research documented by Fardouly, Willburger and Vartanian (2018, pp. 1381-1382) found that people, women in particular, compare themselves to celebrities, peers and their past selves on social networking sites. This constant comparison to others, regardless of whether it is positive or negative, has been associated with serious negative outcomes such as eating disorders and depression. The ability to alter photos and share an edited version of ourselves attributes to these negative outcomes and creates false ideas about ideal body image.
<Instagram vs real life - https://www.boredpanda.com/health-blogger-instagram-real-life-difference-saggysara/>
I am not condemning smartphone cameras and fully support their adoption in society, this post is merely attempting to alert readers to the risk of constantly hiding behind the camera lens. The key is moderation, only take the photo when you feel it’s necessary and make sure to put down your phone and take in your surroundings.
Here is a photo I took down in Warrnambool a few weeks ago – I only needed one photo to attach a memory to and every time I look at it I feel like I’m back there on the rocks.
References
Fardouly J, Willburger B.K & Vartanian L.R, 2018, ‘Instagram use and young women’s body image concerns and self-objectification: Testing mediational pathways’, New Media & Society, Vol. 20, Issue 4, pp. 1380-1395.
Hand M, 2013, ‘Ubiquitous photography’, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Hjorth L & Hendry N, 2014, A snapshot of social media: camera phone practices, Social Media + Society, pp. 1-3.
Resnick B, 2018, ‘What smartphone photography is doing to our memories’, Vox, March 28, viewed 30 May 2018, <https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/28/17054848/smartphones-photos-memory-research-psychology-attention>.
