Perhaps there is some truth, after all, to the wisdom of non-camera-savvy people. When they stare into a foreign object and let it capture the physical essence of who they are, perhaps they know better than us to be in the moment, be real, and not put on an act of pretending to be happy. Maybe they want to be remembered for their true feelings that day, if it means staring grimly, soberly, and not splitting their faces into socialized smiles to deceive an audience into believing their lives couldn’t possibly hold more joy. Maybe there is some truth to their presentation. In a way that will never be in ours. Unless, of course, we go through our days posing and toasting, all flung arms and side profiles, best face forward, like we never scrounge in pyjamas or have a bad mane month.
And maybe there is wisdom in not holding on to those images of ourselves, seconds of moments past, when we are ever-changing, eternal. The you that was doesn’t exist anymore. And yet we chase it down, grapple it to the ground, and pin that wave upon the sand, content with mere froth.
No judgment here, just an observation. Think about it. And share?
Wisdom Wears Neon Pyjamas 
Many a time, when in repose
Am mistaken for being morose
Or when mind’s a-churn
“Oh, you’re taciturn!”
‘Tis only in limericks that am verbose!
Too too profound to comment on, it’s still churning away in my mind.
Aunty G: That’s just my point,
We automatically anoint,
Each pic with a smile,
And unnatural style,
Or noses get out of joint!
alice: Or, as the old saying goes, bullshit baffles brains. 😉
Like Alice … still churning, churning … pretttttie deep! But you will hear … promise.
Such an interesting post. I’m still thinking … cramps or not! I think I’ll come back another time.
I wholeheartedly agree. If aliens landed on earth and looked at our pictures, they would think we are a supremely happy bunch. I think children have a better grasp on reality. My 6 year old HATES pictures because we are always begging him to “smile”. He most definitely will not smile unless he wants to. He will fidget, will make faces, will frown and will act like a total clown, simply because that’s what he wants to do. Quite absurd, our fixation with looking perfect. The phrase “say cheese” needs to die soon.
Or maybe we are just two cantankerous middle-aged (ahem) ladies with an overly pessimistic view of life. To sum it up in the words of American teenagers, “Well, Whatever”.
Some smiles are real, from heart and they are far different than the fake ones. If you know the person, you know the difference. But yes mostly people try to keep their best foot forward and pretend to be perfect, to be happy!
The mask needs to go, we need to face the truth and live the truth. I have written something similar long back.
http://ittakestime.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/facing-the-truth/
Abanty: I’m as shallow as a birdbath. 😉
Anamika: As long as you come back!
RS: 😆 Yeah, never mind crotchety old me. Your little guy is a thinker. And a sensitive one, at that. We’ve had a couple profound conversations, where my contribution was to solemnly nod along.
ittakestime: I agree. 🙂
Hello OJ, this post compelled me to comment (other than Blogette’s 5 year celebrations) 🙂
Perhaps there is some wisdom in that (And I do love candid photography)…
But there is also wisdom in smiling and posing and catching a minuscule moment in time for eternity…No, we don’t spend our days arms flung and toasting… But isn’t the idea of taking photographs to celebrate and remember the less than ordinary moments? To bring smiles to our faces when we look back and remember… We went there. We did that. We met after a long time. He said this… Etc., etc. If it was all just play acting… We would remember that as well (can’t fool ourselves, can we).
Hmmm. I found myself absolutely hating holidays when the spouse carted his camera along! I think I prefer living in the moment, remembering as I choose. Yes, some events like weddings may be good to record, and some photographs of our families for posterity, but no need to keep clicking, which seems like a menace of the digital age! When films and developing cost money, we were far less trigger happy!
i*Kan: So glad you commented. 🙂 The idea of photography used to be an attempt to capture the less-than-ordinary. Is it still the same, though? Don’t you see pictures being rapidly clicked of the most mundane events and daily routines, just because we can? Even the frankly loathsome concept of selfies plays into the whole farce. And yes, we can’t fool ourselves, but we sure seem hell bent on trying to fool the world! Look at the number of Facebook pages that pretend people’s lives are an endless party. Memories are beautiful, but the way we seem to want to chase them and grapple them to the ground seems a little manic and very unnecessary to me.
dipali: I agree. Since I’m born to a photographer and married to one, I’m ridiculously used to being in front of the camera, and it rarely bothers me. I understand love of the art form, since I greatly enjoy taking pictures too. I understand wanting to capture your child’s growing years, or your grandmother’s wise smile for posterity. What I don’t get is the “my-life-rocks-because-I’m-going-to-take-50-party-pictures-and-plaster-them-all-over-social-media” mentality.