I hate photography.

I hate photography. And here are some random thoughts on the subject, random because try as I may I cannot put them across in a coherent way.

1. I am your muse.

From being extremely camera shy to being obsessed with my own photographs, I have made an incredible progress. There are more pictures of me taken last year alone than whole of my adult life put together. Heh, the cafeteria people at work even used my picture as a backdrop in their mails to promote a 'biryani' festival. Without my consent that is. Twice. If they use it again I will sue them (or ask for royalty) But yeah the narcism is all thanks to digital cameras, gone are the days when an entire event had to be captured in 32 pics. I now insist on taking 32 pics of one pose, at least one is bound to be good.(Good = human, not zombie like). But I still hate photography. How else can you explain the 31 bad pictures? (Bad = zombie like, zombie from another planet that is)

2. Shutterbug = blabbermouth?

Yes I know you take pride in knowing every minute detail about the camera, every single part it is made of down to the very tiny screw that holds the I don't know what......but keep the gyan to yourself. I am happy being ignorant and I'll keep it simple. How hard is to press one button really? In my opinion, too much technicality ruins the joy. Besides all that talk about filters, exposure, light mumbo jumbo only gives me a headache. It should be impulsive. You see something nice, you click. You want to capture a moment you click. Like the time I saw these two tiny pups tugging on its mom's tail. Or like when I saw that board that said 'Don't stick any bills. Stickers will be prosecuted'. Those make good pictures, not your knowledge of how the camera came into existence.

3. There's a camera in the way.

Do you sometimes get the feeling that when you are having loads of fun, taking pictures actually comes in the way? And many a times, you get so preoccupied with taking pictures that you stop having fun and fuss about the snaps. I'd rather enjoy the moment than worry about it not being 'picture perfect'. You know all those photos that people put up on orkut or facebook? They aren’t really having fun. They only want you to believe they are.

4. My friend, the camera.

The only times I have enjoyed taking pictures is when I am all on my own. Holding a camera is the perfect excuse to not look awkward or loserish. Traveling alone, the camera makes a perfect companion. Otherwise, I am happy with my 2MP mobile phone camera, that is all that I need for impulsive photography. And your smuggled, flashy (pun intended) one of a kind state-of-the-art, high precision camera does not give me a complex. Oh, I also hate complicated equipment.

I hate photography. But I like photographs. So save me the lecture on how you took them and how you fixed them, just show me the damn pictures. They should speak for you.