Camera Psychology

It has recently occurred to me that a smarter person could probably draw a lot of psychological meaning from how people use their cameras.

My oldest daughter, Rebecca, really wanted a camera for Christmas or her birthday this year, which surprised us.  She had never really shown too much interest in photography - at least in the way that I practice photography. Yet, she insisted that this was really what she wanted and now we know why: It seems that the majority of her pictures are self-portraits, taken at arms length with the little Nikon point and shoot she received.  Ultimately, the pictures end up on Facebook.

The remaining photos are taken of her friends...frequently group shots that still include Rebecca.

My youngest daughter, Rachel, is REALLY into taking pictures. She will take hundreds in a day if we let her, but her picture taking is significantly different.  She does like to take incredibly strange and goofy self-portraits, but she also likes taking pictures of buildings, flowers, dolls and other inanimate objects. Rebecca flat-out states that she does not like taking pictures of STUFF.

Rachel is also fascinated with the idea of using the camera as a tool to create art...often abstract art.  She's 7 years old and has the phrase - "long exposure times" down!  She spent a lot of time on Christmas trying to use long exposure times to create pictures like I published here.  Many of them turned out quite good, too!  She sees the camera as another tool to create art.  I can't wait until her reading skills improve and I start teaching her the wonders of post-processing!

For myself, I tend to be all over the map, though my interest is in "artsy" photos. I use the camera largely as a creative outlet...when I'm not playing music! I also take many event photos to help feed my wife's scrapbooking hobby.  While my wife does think of "artsy" type photo setups, she rarely attempts to take these pictures. She uses photography, so far, as a way to document family events.  As far as self-portraits...I've done two that I can remember.  They are silly, and can be found here and here.

So what does all of this say about us?  Would it be stretching things too far to say that Rebecca (who is 13) is at a self-discovery and introspective stage of her life?  That Rachel is just trying out EVERYTHING and exploring her world, while I'm trying to create new things?  Perhaps, also, my wife and I are trying to capture all the stuff that happens during that brief time when we are raising our family.

How do you use photography and why?  Amateur psychology is welcome in the replies! :)

P.S. If you are interested in following my photography over the coming year, I post some of the photos on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/onedadslife/.

Comments

[KC (MyWorldsaStage)]

I mostly use my camera just to take photos of the items I put up for sale on my website. I do also, however, have a video camera that probably says more about me psychologically. I look for any opportunity to tape live theatre. I got a brand new handy dandy hard-drive camcorder for Christmas, so I'm really looking forward to the production of Shakespeare's Edward III in March and the production of the Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre production in April.

[Gregg's Dad]

I am all over the place in terms of what I photograph: family, vacations, construction sites, art, abstract, nature, whatever is in front of me when I have a camera with me. The problem is, unlike Gregg, I don't always have a camera at my side. I also have an idea for a book which I have started and stopped on for several years; maybe this will be the "Year of the Book". To give you an idea of how long photography has been a hobby, I started with a Kodak 3A Folding Pocket Camera and then graduate to an Argus C-3! I have the original 3A but don't have the original C-3 (actually, it didn't belong to me) but I do have one in my collection.