1,000 words

You know what? It’s been a long time coming and it’s about time I ‘comment’ on this particular observation I’ve been having.

There are certain people in this world (you know who you are)… who walk around with an extra appendage; an extremity that most of us ‘normal’ people, aren’t so blessed to have. Being competitive in nature, I would normally be jealous or envious – of course, who wouldn’t? However, I’m also a relatively reasonable guy and my feelings of jealousy and envy have been overshadowed by an overwhelming sense of normalcy.

Yes, these certain people in this world (you know who you are) have seemed to cheat the evolutionary process and grow a fucking camera dangling alongside their hand. I just want to say that you are all bordering the entitlement: absolute freak shows. I wish you could take a picture of yourselves doing this.

For one, I hate carrying stuff on me. I hate carrying cash in my pockets, I hate carrying my keys, I hate carrying my wallet and I hate carrying my cell phone, I do it all because I know I have to (except for the cell phone, sometimes I’ll just leave that in the car). Given the fact that if I had it my way, I would even re-consider eliminating having to ‘carry’ the clothes I’m wearing; surely everyone understands when I say I don’t understand how people can carry a curs-ed camera everywhere they go.

We all know that it doesn’t stop at ‘carrying’. Fuck no, they’re not crazy … only crazy people carry cameras and don’t use them. These people use them and they use them like there’s no tomorrow. They love taking pictures of random things, anything they come across. For example, they will take a picture of the road (the SAME road they already have 1423 pictures of) every single time they walk passed it.

Maybe all this is with good reason, I might have missed something and need to start catching up on my “taking pictures of everything”. “Hey look! Dog over there taking a shit… SNAP!” … “OH look! man crossing the street … SNAP!” – “Hey! There’s a blue car … SNAP!” Are you fucking kidding me? Some of those pictures are useless. Why do you feel the need to take so many goddam erroneous pictures? Please stop it. Please.

People who like to take pictures of everything obviously leave nothing to the imagination (provided it existed in the first place, I’m even willing to argue a lack of it). They want the ‘PROOF’, specific visual proof that they just witnessed whatever it was they witnessed. I of course, am the complete opposite; I cherish the rarity in the one-time visual or occurrence, otherwise …. Doesn’t it all just get boring?

I can understand and appreciate the sentimental merit of taking pictures of family or friends at any given occasion, or just anytime not necessarily being an occasion – I’ll also accept a moment of candor, or an offbeat/ funny image. But for fuck’s sake stop taking pictures of a dead bird on the sidewalk or some spilled ice cream scoop (although, I think spilled ice cream scoops would fall under ‘offbeat/ funny’ only because as children, we’ve all experienced how disastrous and devastating it can be to drop the ice cream from the cone – I’ll accept it).

I realize that there are professional photographers who do this for a living. Fine, understandable. I also realize that there are avid ‘amateurs’ who are interested in photography as a hobby or whatever. Fine, that’s also understandable … oh wait, no it's not. Is it possible to take a cue from the "professionals" and be selective about your photographs? What exactly do we all plan on doing with these pictures? How many times are you going to photograph the most unimportant and uninteresting event happening on any street?

Oh look! …Happy Friday … take a picture of that. SNAP!

Note: 180 on the topic, I want to mention serious props to M.I.A. for keeping it real to Sri-Lanka. "From Congo to Colombo, ya can’t stereotype her thing Yo. She bongo with her lingo, she salt and pepper her mango" … and … does it all on top of a big fat elephant (possibly worthy of a picture).
addendum: Today is Glass.