Unconscious Perfectionism

By defining a snapshot as spontaneous and without artistic or journalistic intent, we can see how far we have come from the innocence of the Kodak moment. They were intended to capture a memory in it's purest and inherently flawed form; our obsession with professional photography of our own design has created an inaccurate concept of memory. Our culture demands the perfect picture for the perfect memory.

It has become a cultural phenomenon; people practice their smile, practice their duckface, practice their pose, practice symmetry and balance in the placement of their arms and legs, practice perfection. And this is encouraged by social media, by Instagram models who become rich and famous by portraying perfection, by Facebook and Twitter photos that makes us feel inadequate if they don't reach the predetermined number of likes required for happiness, by Snapchat that we think gives an accurate portrayal of the human experience.

Some of my most "popular" photos were taken when I was at my lowest points in life. The picture was not a reflection of the moment. And many of my happiest moments do not have an accompanying photo, because I was so enthralled with the experience and my surroundings that I wouldn't even think of stopping it for a photo shoot.

Technology, photography, and social media trick us into thinking that we need to project the perfect life. We live in competition with one another, to prove that our experience was more perfect than another's. We create unrealistic expectations for ourselves and struggle to find happiness in everyday living.

Is it a coincidence that depression and suicide rates have steadily risen every year since 1999? Correlation certainly does not mean causation, but it seems as though there is this unconscious pressure to be doing the next great thing. If we are not doing something significant, and more importantly submitting for the world to see, then what are we doing? It can make a person feel very insignificant. I embrace the flawed nature of my humanity and try to capture that in every picture. And my little sister does too, occasionally.