Why I'm Taking LESS Photos

Every day for the past few months I’ve gotten a notification on my phone alerting me to the fact that my iCloud storage is almost full. Could this issue be easily solved by moving photos to a hard drive? Yes. Have I done that? No. I have nearly 17,000 photos on my phone, so many that I genuinely couldn’t tell you what the vast majority of them are. I got my first smartphone back in 2014, and since then I have progressively ramped up how many photos I take each year, week, and even day.

I see a funky flower, I take a picture. I notice some beautiful clouds, I take a picture. I make an extravagant meal, I take a picture. I celebrate with loved ones, I take a picture. On the surface this was a fine method, one that I’m sure you may also partake in. After all there is nothing inherently wrong with taking a picture of something that you want to look back on or remember later.

But for me, there is also a dark side to this habit that I have established: digital clutter and lack of being present. The mere thought of the chaos of files on my laptop and phone is enough to invite the familiar face of anxiety back into my mind. While I do spend time looking back at old photos, wondering ‘what was I doing six years ago today?’, I have also been asking myself ‘was I really present when taking this?’.

So often I’m outside and feel this innate pull to take a photo, trying to capture the feeling of being in the forest within a single photo. And while some pictures may come close, truly nothing compares to simply BEING in the moment. I can get so caught up with wanting to document the moment so future me will remember it, that I can forget to bask in the present moment that is right in front of me. The instant I pull my phone out I am less present, even if it feels like a marginal difference, the subtle shift cannot go unnoticed.

I have over 500 photos of sunsets on my phone, each as unique and similar as the last. A few weeks ago when taking one from my front porch for the umpteenth time, I marveled at how quickly the clouds were moving. I was so focused on capturing the moment to send it to my family and to have a picture for later, that I missed a few seconds on the amber light dancing across the wispy clouds. I now had a photo to mark this beautiful moment, but realized that I had missed looking at it with my own eyes, instead staring at the sunset on my phone screen, making sure the framing was just right.

This year I have made a promise, a commitment to myself, to be more present. On the surface this aspirational goal may seem difficult to define. Yet over the past few months I have routinely discovered small habits in my life that often take me out of the present, such as constantly taking photos. It may just be a few seconds here and there but as soon as I reach for my phone it marks a shift. Rather than just me simply experiencing the present moment, my phone is there, hoping that my touch will lead to looking at old photos, answering texts or emails that can wait for later, or a myriad of other habits I am working to distance myself from.

This isn’t to say that I’ll never take photos, or that there is anything wrong with others who want to document everything that excites and interests them. For me, the less photos I take, the less I am on my phone, and the less likely I am to be pulled out of the present moment. My meditation practice never fails to ground me in the present, but I recognize and acknowledge that I simply can’t be seated with my back straight and eyes closed every moment of every day. What I can do is discover what helps me flow in the present and what takes me out of the moment.

With this also comes the practice of remembering our own uniqueness. What grounds me in the moment may have the opposite effect for you. Where I need total silence to truly focus, perhaps you find music to be more soothing. One of my friends is an incredibly talented photographer, often stopping along the trail to take photos if we are on a walk or run. It’s clear to me that taking photos does not have the same effect on her as it does me, in fact it appears to have quite the opposite- offering her a way to express her creativity and truly capture the moment in her own way.

What is it that makes you feel most alive, most aware and in tune with the present moment? What also takes you out of the moment and what would you like to spend less time doing? Life should not be about creating systems that work for others or may have worked for you in the past but no longer serve you. Instead, I find the most joy when I take the time to lean into what works for me, move away from what distracts me, and let go of the notion that life needs to look a certain way.

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