The camera is a magical device; it captures the moment. In a single click, the time is frozen. The moment that will tickle your brain in future, remind you of past, make you happy or sad and evoke your emotions.
My experience with photography goes back to school days when film cameras ruled the world. Anyone who had the camera was the king. Kodak, Yashica are the few brands that everyone had.
To own the camera came as a status symbol.
We were going on a family trip for my grandmother’s function. Being in Class X, I ought to have the camera. I searched for a camera from relatives to friends. Finally found one at my cousin uncle. It took some effort, but he obliged and gave it to me.
I went and bought three camera rolls for Rs 300. Which was huge money, we went on the trip and had some cool pics. Now when I see those pics, i realise. Those pics are worth just more than RS 100 per roll.
In Class XII, during the annual function, i decided to capture a few more memories because I knew some of the people I am never going to meet in my life. Borrowed some money from my friends and got one camera roll. Clicked some awesome pics, but when the roll went to develop. The developer told me the reel had sucked at 15 and only 15 pics had come. The best moments were gone. I have to rely now on my memory now.
As memory gets old, it fades away. The details of that day are gone, and now faded memories remain in my mind. Each time you click the pic and see it, it’s the memory refresh, it’s like revision for life. The AHA moment.
The old times were good because we had to ration the camera roll for best of memories, we had to decide what our memories will be in those 33 pics per roll. Unlike today where we shoot and shoot and still wait for one good pic.
It was always shooting others vs. shooting self. In Today selfie age more pics are clicked, the quality is gone, so much memory is created,that SD cards and memory are overloaded. With ease to see instantly and delete takes away the fun, excitement and suspense.
Earlier we clicked pics were for us, nowadays we click pics for others. We clicked pics of others and they were our memories, today we click our pics and want them to be memories for others.
Wonder how times and cameras have changed.
