Pictures

I think that there’s been a shift in peoples behavior as a result of camera’s in phones. I say this because of the number of people that have a reflex pose that they adopt as soon as they become aware that they’re being recorded. This pose has become a stock photo that can be recreated the instant a phone is pointed in their direction. No more awkward smiles or closed eyes, because huge swaths of people have taken enough selfies that they’ve become experts at presenting an image of themselves to the world.

Practiced until perfected.

I observed this phenomena at my nieces wedding. I had agreed to take some pictures with a real camera, and the event wasn’t even remotely close to what I was anticipating. My past experiences with taking event photo’s had me believing that I was going to have to badger people to pose, and that it was likely I would have to retake a percentage of the shots because of the aforementioned closed eyes and goofy smile attempts.

However, this experience was much different. For starters, once I found a spot where the terrain was level and the lighting was good I didn’t need to badger anyone. To my surprise they actually found the people they wanted in the picture with them and then they lined up and waited for their turn. Granted, everyone had drinks in hand so they multi-tasked and socialized while they waited, but I was still amazed at how cooperative everyone was with the whole concept.

And the surprises kept on coming.

Each couple or group would be chatting and laughing, and as soon as I positioned the camera and said OK, the entire group turned as one, turned off their current persona and automatically adopted their practiced pose and facial expression.

The result was perfect pictures. Not Ansel Adams perfect, but I’ve got to say that all that selfie practice made me appear to be a much better photographer than I really am.

And the lens helped. I have a really good lens. So I had the right equipment for perfect pictures and the people had conditioned themselves to be picture perfect.

But the moment of transition was kind of creepy. It was like they were instantly possessed by an inner personality. Kind of like Venom, only they didn’t trade smart assed one liners with their symbiont.

I wasn’t really sure how to process what I was seeing. I mean it was actually kind of fucking weird after a while, because every couple or group exhibited the same behavior. I think what made it weird for me was watching how effortlessly the pose was turned on and then off.

And so I got to wondering. I wondered if the selfie symbiont was slowly taking over, and if the real person was trapped inside a social media construct. I half assed expected to be reviewing the pictures and see the real person superimposed and clawing to get out.

But that didn’t happen. Just eerie perfection.

My wife thinks I’m fucked by the way. I don’t think she thinks that all the time, but I’ve heard her express the sentiment on a few occasions. I shared my photo creepiness thought with her, and I should probably have kept it to myself. Because the share became one of those times where I got a slow eye blink, a minor head shake, an exaggerated draw of breath and then, Jesus, who even thinks of shit like that ?

I’m never sure how to respond to her when she asks me that particular question. I mean the answer is obvious right? I do, I think of this shit, and she knows I think of this shit because I just told her about it.

So it was evident she didn’t want to join me in this particular logic walk, and I was left to my own devices. Which is fine. I’m actually used to it, and I know I’m on my own when I hear that little hissing noise as she draws her breath in between her teeth.

Years of marriage and a person tends to pick up those signs that she believes a judicial abandonment is in order.

So I was solo wondering if this ability to alter ones stance and expression was only used for photo ops? Or had the skill been adopted for real life encounters? Could repetitive selfies create an avatar of flesh so real, that you can’t discern if what you’re seeing is authentic or a constructed representation?

I do not know the answer to this question. But if the answer is that if you can’t really trust what you’re looking at as genuine, then we’ve effectively removed the ability to accurately judge a person by their demeanor. You could be looking at a construct, and how the hell do you communicate with a composition?

On the other hand maybe the skill can be used to project a perfect representation of a persons current state of mind, and that would make communication easier? I don’t know the answer to that question either but I do know that people like deception, and so I’m betting that most people would dabble in misrepresenting their true selves if it serves their purposes.

And that just makes things more complicated. Because, oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

Or

Maybe I’m overthinking the whole thing and the selfie inclination could just be the flavor of the moment. Vanity fare so to speak, but I kind of doubt it. A hand held device that instantly delivers images of your favorite person seems like a winner that will stand the test of time.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though. We’re currently going through a period of time where reality is up for debate, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to determine that people have developed different persona’s to accommodate a particular reality. It could be that we’ve always done this, but now we’ve enhanced the ability with the aid of the latest technology and we’re becoming more skillful as we practice.

I’ve never taken a selfie on purpose.

So I’m going to sit this one out, which is fine because I belong to a sort of anti-selfie group. I don’t know how many of us there are, but I would like it if I made it through my entire life span without ever being captured digitally.

And that ambition is being challenged more and more each day because those damn mobile phone camera’s are so abundant.

Thankfully most people are taking selfies.