evolutionary theories
Since I lost my camera three years ago, my phone has been my only source of photos. Looking through the approx. 3,000 images, they’re all pretty much the same shit: holidays, friends, the occasional arty closeup of a flower.
But since I got this new iPhone, I’ve been noticing that my photos have started to look different. I think I finally figured out what it is.
Because the iPhone 4 has two cameras — one on the front and one on the back — the phone’s screen is essentially a mirror for self-portrait-style shots. Everyone in the shot can see themselves as the photo is being taken.
This leads to a strange phenomenon where, for the first time ever, all the people in the photo have the same expressions on their faces. Because someone will start making a face, then instinctively, everyone else will imitate that face before the shutter snaps.
Example 1: me, Lela, Dan and Doug in Scotland. This photo was taken with no prior agreement on or discussion of what sort of face to make.
The phenomenon is not limited to faces. The photo below was taken the day before.
I don’t know who leaned first, but it clearly was contagious.
Example 2:
The bright side is that when one person says “Let’s take a nice picture this time,” there’s no worry they’ll pull a face behind your back.
It’s like there’s a new-found trust between me and the people I’m taking pictures with. And it makes nice pictures nicer, I think.
(except maybe Lela, who for some reason bothers to put on a sexytime fuck-me face on a mountaintop in the Scottish Highlands.)
