Nostalgic for Nostalgia

Instant pleasure.

That's where we are as a society now. We need instant gratification, we want to enjoy things immediately. We leave no time to let moments and events perculate and we don't even digest, we just constantly consume.

I miss the days when we would shoot a few photos in a roll of film, then put the camera away until it's needed again. One roll could last us months and months as we only took pics of what we really valued, and then when we finally finish the roll and get it developed, the photos are a trip down memory lane. How fun was that birthday 3 months ago ! Oh I looked great with that haircut I should probably get that again.

As a professional photographer in the digital age, I've noticed the urgency that everyone has to see the images that they have hired me to do. It takes away all the magic of the event itself. Instead of letting the memory simmer and settle into their minds, they want the images. They want my perspective to dictate their memory. I've noticed this specially in wedding shoots, where literally within 3 days the messages start coming in. 

My method is to placate the client by giving them a small taste by sending between 5 to 15 images to enjoy and share on social media ( since that's what it's mostly about honestly ) and then I insist on taking my time to edit them. The longer the job sits on my end, the longer I can take developing a narrative and working on the images. Looking at the images a few days after working on them provides me with another perspective.