As Seen Through a Lens

There was a time when we made fun of all the Japanese tourists with their fancy cameras, when we were embarrassed to pull out a Kodak Instamatic and snap a picture here and there.

But then enter the digital age. Virtually every person on our tour has a digital camera, some quite fancy with multiple settings and lenses. I sometimes wonder at the patience of those speaking to us who simply ignore the clicks and flashes instead of saying, “Could you please just hold your pictures?” Some of our group are so busy searching out the best angle, the best light, that I am amazed that they are able to process anything that is being said.

I wondered to myself today who would fare better on a post-lecture quiz – the group without cameras who simply listened or those who clicked and flashed and ultimately produced digitized pictures in living color? Are our expensive toys becoming a substitute for using our minds to process and remember what we see?