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The Camera Obscura was the first technological invention that changed the way that people saw the world in all of its beauty. For first the time ever images could be captured and preserved for generations to come.
The idea behind the Camera Obscura was discussed from 391 to 470 BC by a Chinese philosopher by the name of Mozi. Later, near the 11th century, an Arab physicist expanded that idea and wrote several books with the theory of optics and experimentation with a small hole of light in a dark room.
It was not until 1816 when the first photograph was half successfully developed by Nicéphore Niépce. In 1885 the first portable camera was officially created and put in the market in 1885. The relative simplicity of being able to capture a memory was quite extraordinary and changed the world as we know it. From once having to document everything in written language to be able to simply press a button, the modern technological game had begun.
Today, nearly 4.68 billion people in the world have a camera in their pockets every single day capturing photographs of everyday life.
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“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”
This unrestricted ability to have a camera everywhere we go is a blessing but it can also be a curse due to limiting privacy and the restriction of experiencing and remembering life. There are multiple reasons why cameras limit personal privacy in someone’s day to day life. Wherever we may go in the modern world we are being tracked and watched by cameras. If you are taking a walk through a city, a town, in your car, or going to dinner you are being constantly recorded.
Practically everywhere that we go into our lives is being recorded and could be used against us at all times.
Everyone has their own personal life and most don’t appreciate the fact the government or others can look into that. The majority of social media is focused on photography in a variety of ways. Snapchat is an application that allows its users to send nothing but pictures and videos giving others access to view their lives. Other apps such as Instagram, VSCO, and Pinterest are primarily focused on posting pictures of peoples day to day activities. This constant upload of pictures can allow anyone to see not only what you are doing, but also where your location is. This brings up the concern of privacy to many. According to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former FBI director James Comey, the possibility of your computer webcam being hacked is very real. This means that someone could hack into your computer camera and watch anything and everything that you do. This serious lack of privacy can be used by the Government if serious legal matters were presented.
Cameras can also catch the act of someone who thinks they are having a private conversation and then be released to the public ending in a catastrophic result. For example, right before the 2016 Presidential election, a video of Donald Trump from many years back became publicized regarding his objectification of women. This video was secretly taken as he believed he was having a private conversation with one man. That being said, in no way should he not be criticized for his remarks, but it should be taken into account that his privacy was violated and resulted in his poll numbers plummeting afterward. The same principle could be used for social media posts. It is true when people say that one social media posts can ruin a person’s life. Many people have lost their jobs because of a post from many years back when they didn’t think what they said would hurt anything. On a more serious scale, Anthony Weiner, formerly well-respected representative from New York accidentally posted an explicit picture on Twitter. After a week of denying the picture was sent by him and exclaiming that his account was hacked, he admitted the picture was in fact from him and that he intended to send the picture to a 21-year-old woman. Shortly after, he resigned from Congress, lost a mayoral race, lost his wife, and is now being sentenced to prison under a child pornography charge. While that example is to the extreme, if cameras were not around, this would not ever be able to happen. Far too often at a social gathering such as concerts, family dinners, and sporting events cameras seem to be everyone’s first priority.
Twenty years ago, before cell phone cameras were around people went to concerts to listen, dance, and relax. Now people record the concerts just to be able to relive the experience over again. The same applies when you go on vacation and want to photograph every amazing site that you see. The tendencies for people to take scramble for their phones anytime they see something “pic-worthy” is unhealthy and takes away from the moment you are trying to capture. But would you truly be reliving the experience? You are not really experiencing something if you are observing it through the lens of a camera. Certain artists such as Beyonce, Prince, and Bjork have banned the use of cell phones at their concerts because they believe that they distract the audience from their performances. Based off of an experiment done by Dr. Linda Henkel, from Fairfield University, Connecticut. She discovered that people tended to remember events or images less when they were taking pictures or videos during that time. Dr. Henkel says "People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point that they are missing what is happening right in front of them. She conducted a test involving university students going to a museum. Some were asked to photograph the paintings and some were asked just to look at them. “The results showed that people were less accurate in recognizing the objects they had photographed compared to those they had only looked at. It was found that their memory of detail for the objects they had photographed was poorer.” This is saying that when we take pictures, we tend not to remember what we saw as well as we would if we were simply soaking everything into our brain. The counterclaim to these arguments is reasonable if the ‘blessing’ to have a camera everywhere is not overused. For example, cameras capture certain moments that could not, nor should, ever be forgotten such as the birth of your son or daughter. They can make a memory seem to last forever and will be cherished for years to come. While cameras are good for making lasting memories, they also prevent people from making lasting mistakes. Nearly every gas station, grocery store, hardware store or business center has surveillance cameras which not only catches the perpetrator but helps to prevent people from doing it in the first place. These surveillance cameras can be found in homes as well, leaving their customers with the comfort of being able to know what goes on inside and outside the house when they are there and when they are not.
Cameras have effectively changed the scientific world in nearly every area of science. With the advancement of digital imagery and allied vision, cameras have played a large role in revealing the invisible components of science. These specialized types of cameras have helped advance medicine, learn more about nature and our planet, and to further our studies into just about every area of science. Cameras can observe simple time-consuming tasks such as recording different growing periods of specific plants in different environments. They also can take microscopic pictures enabling scientists to observe cells from anywhere without having to have a microscope in front of them. This photography also allows education in the sciences to flourish because teachers now have the ability to teach with real-life examples. Cameras also come in the form of Smart Pills which can be ingested by humans to take a look inside their intestines to observe abnormal interactions without having to proceed with surgery. These cameras are microscopic and can see where no one has been able to see before. The benefits of having a camera are vast yet far too many people abuse the power without recognizing that it is actually inhibiting their ability to remember events or places as well as they could be.
Although the benefits of having cameras can advance modern technology in society, there are many harmful downfalls when it comes to everyday life. The importance of having privacy in American life is undoubtedly one of the greatest freedoms in the United States. Privacy is the most personal aspect of a person’s life. It is where individuals recharge, decompress, and create a mindset. Camera’s invade this privacy as they are constantly the vesicle for documenting and recording people’s lives, whether they know it or not. Cameras are harmful to life itself as they often occupy experiences more than the experiences have an impact on individuals. By viewing life, whether it’s a concert or lunch with friends, through a lens, the true impact of experience and relationships are overshadowed by the importance this generation has put on documentation.
History Of Cameras And Its Impact On Our Life. (2024, Feb 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/history-of-cameras-and-its-impact-on-our-life-essay
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