After finishing a delicious meal at our favorite restaurant in Perissa, Santorini, I felt compelled to ask the two musicians if I could take some video of their performance. They were cordial, welcoming us as we sat down and chatting with us between songs. Without hesitation they both agreed, but then one of them said something I won’t ever forget. “Yeah man, but you’ve got to live your own life first.” It caught me a bit off-guard, and I quickly blurted out my standard, generic response, “Well I like to inspire others to get out and experience life.” He pushed back on that point, rightfully so, and the conversation moved on. I mentioned that by complete chance we stayed at their hotel, and had also met a Santorini local, Vladimir who was kind enough to show us around the island. He laughed and said, “nothing is just by chance.” A third woman joined in, adding, “this rendezvous was planned long ago.” The musician(I never got his name and he will never know the importance of our interaction that night) proclaimed, “the planners are planning.”
Two weeks later and I am still thinking about that conversation. Why record something? Surely, there is value in preserving a memory through photography, inspiring others, causing change through visual storytelling, etc. But which moments should be documented and which ones should remain un-hackable, un-shareable, and in one private location, the brain?
Where is the balance? For most people, it’s probably somewhere between recording absolutely everything and breaking their phone and camera and disappearing off the grid indefinitely(don’t worry I won’t choose either of these options).
While some argue that technology inhibits human interaction, I could make the point that without the original intent to just film some sweet Greek music I never would have had a real conversation that I am still thinking about weeks later.
My camera has already taken me places I never would have guessed, spurred conversations I never expected, and inspired ideas that would otherwise lie dormant.
At this point, I don’t have the answers to these questions. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about.
Kyle Huber 