Just go!
While walking around Central Park in New York City, I noticed hundreds of people playing Pokémon Go. It reminded me of childhood, after playing in the park, popping in the VHS to watch the Pokémon 2000 movie, and my favorite game for the game boy, Pokémon Silver. I loved Pokémon Silver because the legendary Pokémon in the game was Lugia, from the movie. Also, my favorite Pokémon of all time is Cyndaquil, which was a starter Pokémon in Silver. I used to collect retro video games for quite some time throughout high school and college, and had a substantial collection of game boy games. I used to relax in the hammocks at Spruce Street Harbor in Philly and play Pokémon on my beloved Gameboy SP AGS-101 Version. This specific model of the gameboy was the best, and more rare to find, because the LCD screen was way brighter than the traditional gameboys. When I was a kid, I would carry my game boy everywhere I would go. I even remember when the Nintendo DS came out, and pictochat was the first way I ever sent a text message during camp in the summertime. I remember collecting binders full of cards, and trading them with friends. Pokémon is a good game because it promotes social interaction where you can trade with other players, battle, in both digital and physical realms. Seeing hundreds of people playing Pokémon from their iPhones in the park was mind blowing, and I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was somewhat dystopian, but at the same time, really wholesome. I heard so many gamers saying how they never walked this much in a day before and how much fun they were having. As much as I criticize phone use and the way we are excessively glued to them all day, at least these gamers are getting out in the real world.
I guess the whole ethos of Pokémon Go is that it requires the players to literally go, moving their physical bodies through the world to hunt for Pokémon. Because if it’s physical nature, I have no problem with it. That’s why I love the game boy, because at least you could take it outside, and get fresh air while you’re playing. Maybe anything that gets people moving their bodies is a good thing, even if it’s a video game.  however, maybe most video games are just a waste of time, and the pursuit of art, through the medium of street photography, gives life more meaning.
Think of Pokémon, and how difficult it is to find a shiny. There’s maybe a one percent chance that you will find these Pokémon, as it requires lots of time, walking through the grass, encountering level two or three Pokémon over and over again. A lot of these low level Pokémon that you will find along your journey are mostly useless, such as Ratatata, but after a lot of time spent putting the work in, fortune favors the prepared, and you will be blessed with that rare and valuable shiny Pokémon. I find this approach to be very similar to photography. When we’re on the streets, we of course, hope to make something interesting, something that has not been seen before, something that asks more questions than gives answers. This is hard and very rare to come by as you will be walking the same lane with repetition every single day, and mostly come home with nothing 99% of the time. However, with dedication and daily practice, that rare moment, that is so unique, that has you saying, yes, comes by letting go of the outcome.