Quantity or Quality?

Winter evenings are perfect for dusting off my projector and setting it up to look through slides taken two decades ago. What would I find?

I had to assemble the projector, find a pile of books, clean the lens and remember how the tray worked. I was all fingers and thumbs taking the individual slides from their sleeves to load onto the tray. I hadn’t labelled many, so remembering to load them upside down and back-to-front only revealed their secret once projected onto the wall.

I used to work here and enjoyed the view east from the Bridgemaster’s dining room on Tower Bridge. Look how sparse and lonely Canary Wharf was 26 years ago.

Old School

The process felt familiar, but wasn’t. It felt tangible, slow…deliberate with a big element of surprise as another image is projected. Out of focus until the lens is adjusted, I sit back to recall the places, remember the faces, the pure luck to have captured that ‘moment’ with just this one a frame and wonder too how different those views are now.

I was amused to think that I would have headed off somewhere with just one or two rolls of film, or further afield with a few more in my bag. I had to look, and look again before taking a photograph, sometimes not even bothering as was unsure what opportunities lay around the corner for my remaining 12 frames.

No panoramas, time-lapse, slo-mo or portraits, some zoom and perhaps a macro, but then it was getting expensive! No instant deleting or knowing what I had taken.

Anticpation

Compare and contrast the camera in my pocket, my vast, searchable and easily shared photo library with the challenges of capturing past memories. It has changed beyond anything I could have imaged. But I love it because it brings spontaneity, has made photography accessible and doesn't cost a fortune.

I know we have gained so much, but also feel we have lost something along the way: anticipation and patience. Does this technological innovation mean we have lost the ability to focus on fewer things in favour of blasting our (paper-thin) content everywhere? Is there the opportunity to slow down and think about why we are taking photographs and making videos? I could do with this approach.

Did you know digital has a huge ecological footprint as the power-hungry data centres store ever increasing amounts of data in cloud storage?

We feel compelled to be everywhere, all the time. If I had an image for how many conversations I have listened to about the need to be ‘on TikTok’ for example, I’d have myself another extensive photo library.

Obviously skiving off work to visit the new Tate Modern in London.

Here’s three things to consider

• Let’s all slow our marketing output down.

• Consider quality over quantity: be the best on fewer channels.

• Note to self: take an hour each week to delete those images and reels you never look at or intend to use.

I am still thinking about what to do with the remaining slides - I did have a clear out. There is some interest in the London slides as the skyline has changed so much, but suggestions welcome for how some of this library could be accessed.

All images and content are the copyright of Mary Tebje.