Lately I've been on one of my "How much should I really share on my blog?" thinking spells. As faithful followers of this photo heavy blog know, I love taking pictures. And I happen to believe (as all proud Mommas do) that I have an adorable child who adds a bright spot of color to pictures. I know that I have family who love seeing pictures of the little babe because they can't see her in person. Sharing photos on this blog are a great way to let them see her daily life and experiences. But then part of me says, "Wait a minute, should everyone in the world be able to see exactly that - what MY little babe does in her daily life? (I know my viewership numbers are a bit less than the whole world, but you know what I mean.) When she is a bit older, what will she think about her life being documented on-line?
Most people know that people of the Amish faith do not allow their pictures to be taken nor do they take photos of each other. Think about that for a minute. In this culture that has created the word "selfie" (which is now officially a word in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary), the Amish do not take pictures of themselves in their well tended vegetable gardens on beautiful sunny afternoons. They don't take pictures of themselves with the amazingly detailed quilt they just sewed. Think of the literally thousands of dollars that people spend on wedding photographers - the Amish spend none. All of those cute Amish children playing on the farm - they have no baby photos of them. Do you think that their lives are not as rich and full as ours because they have not captured all of those moments on film/digital files? Do you think that they won't remember their wedding day or that there was a huge snowstorm on the day that their first child was born?
I'm not saying that we should not take any pictures of our life. I (obviously) enjoy taking photos of my daughter and at least at this age, she enjoys seeing photos of herself. My husband and I have also found that it is a fun way to remind her about places that we have been and things that we have experienced. Of course, we can just as well do that by bringing a souvenir home - a snail shell, a pinecone, a book that we bought by a local author, etc.
I guess my point of all of this rambling is to say that I am going to try and be more aware of the photographs that I am taking. I am going to try to perhaps just experience life a bit more instead of trying to capture it on film. I am going to think about why I want to share a particular photo. So my photos for today are of Ruby, my high strung anxious Corgi-with-a-tail, who is almost always in motion and will never stand still for a photo. She just wants to go, go, go experience life and I can never get a good portrait of her. But you know what? The truth is that we won't need these blurry photos of a dog's butt to remember Ruby when she is no longer with us, but if we happen to see them, I know that they will make us smile.
Your thoughts? Do you tend to "live it" or "click it"? What about selfies - experience sharing or ego boosting?