Full Camera Roll

She’s so fluffy.

I scroll through my innumerable bunny photos and sigh. Mochi’s cute poses and Momo’s idiosyncratic happy dashes are the highlights of my camera roll; no other four-legged creatures take up 8 GB of my phone’s storage.

Sadness and homesickness fill my gut as I continue scrolling through old photos. I can’t visit my furry friends because school takes so much of my time; all I can experience are images, videos, and snippets of their cute presence. My mind wanders.

What value are these photos?

A few years of photography have ingrained in me the difference between a scene and an image. Images taken on our phones and fancy DSLR cameras are merely a hint, or a whiff of the scenes in front of the camera. Lacroix is to soda as photos are to experiences. Delectable food oozes caramel, pleasant aromas, and good times, but food images hold only dashes of moments that belong to the past. And yet, though I know all this, I still prize these snippets as my camera roll’s highest possessions; though far away from Mochi and Momo, I treasure my photos because, without them, I have only fading memories.

Was I happy when I took these photos?

I was so focused on posting or taking the image for the future that I forgot to enjoy the bunny in front of me; though my camera focused on my bunnies, I wasn’t. Many of the photos I took for friends sealed fake momentary smiles into eternity. The first time I went to a concert, I felt the odd compulsion to whip out my phone and record it. Sadly, this phenomenon of having my phone immortalize the moment made it hard to enjoy. Why did I trade full enjoyment for a subpar experience and a mediocre iPhone recording?

Taking photos is an attempt to faintly capture the essence of a moment and the beauty in the world in front of us. Photos are just photos, but they’re also just photos; they are visual memory, but they’re exactly that — nothing more. They freeze reality in time and space but aren’t the reality they point to.

Photos are best experienced as materialized memories that help us glance back to press onward. The moments of the past are no more, and, as opposed to evoking nostalgia, they can be historical and life-giving. Images provide us the opportunity to recount and vicariously experience the past, and to give thanks in the now; they also develop our longings, which fuel our future enjoyment of goods and develop the tension that precedes our reunions. A pregnant tension gives way to the most palpable joy when rekindling old friendships, and a full camera roll is the best tinder for celebrations, parties, and weddings.1

Life is full of images and I am thankful for the one(s) behind the image(s).2 A snapshot of phenomena offers an opportunity for an encounter itself and points to a greater reality. Memory-preserving media and photogenic friends, family, and bunnies are all gifts that should be utilized to increase, not reduce, our enjoyment of what we have been gifted with and move us to long for the day when our longings are met. For Momo and Mochi, these images grow my anticipation for my time at home, where I can hold them in my arms and, for my friends, when we are Home at last, in the arms of the Image of images, celebrating with the One who has made us in His image.3

Justin is a fourth-year studying Data Science and Economics. He is a professional photographer and an even more professional photographer for his two bunnies, Momo and Mochi.

1 Psalm 130:1-6; Revelation 19:5-9

2 Genesis 1:27

3 Hebrews 13:14; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 19:5-9, 21:1-5