Your Camera Is a Time Machine
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante, currently walking around 9th Street here in South Philadelphia. Today I’m thinking about the power of photography and its simple ability to allow you to remember.
When I think about the act of photographing—and especially when I go back and review my photographs, whether it’s a photo or a video, really any sort of visual media—it allows me to relive the experience directly. And it’s a very selfish thing to photograph, actually, because when I’m photographing, I’m photographing purely for myself and for the joy that it provides me. Then, when I look back at the images, it really does allow me to relive those experiences, to recall the feelings I had, the sensation of being out there in the world when I made that picture.
While this is a very subjective and very personal way of engaging with the medium, I feel it’s the most meaningful. When you have this visual diary of your day, this visual record that says you were here, you experienced this, it fulfills your life. It’s a simple way of using photography to create memories. And when you go back and relive them through viewing the images or watching the videos, you can put yourself back into your shoes, retrace your steps, and find joy in that. I think it’s okay to treat photography this way. That’s how I’ve been treating it for the past three years now, and I feel like I’m never going to go back.
Think of the photo albums left behind by families—maybe your great-grandfather or grandfather had a camera at that time and made pictures. Those are usually the photos cherished most. If you treat photography almost like you’re creating your own digital time capsule, your own visual diary, your own photo album, it’s the most meaningful and joyous way of engaging with this thing.
That’s how I treat both photography and video: as a way for me to create memories and relive them. Video especially is such a powerful medium. Some of the videos I’ve made—even using a 360 camera or just this GoPro Mini—put you right back into that point of view. With super-view, you feel immersed within that perspective. That first-person point of view is a great way to share and relive memories.
We should consider not just how we photograph, but why we photograph. If you find it’s simply a way for you to record your life and bring more meaning to it, that’s enough. It’s okay to engage with it in that way. That’s how I’ll continue my journey—and I’m just sharing it with you.