Capturing the moment
PICTURES emerged this week of world leaders holding shovels and planting trees.
In Great Britain, Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull went to Chequers and spent time with the Mays.
At some point, they went out into the garden and, despite wearing business clothes (jackets for the men), decided to dig a hole in the lawn and plant a tree together.
We know this happened because we’ve got the pictures to prove it.
The composition of four people and a tree will be remembered forever, even though the tree may very well be moved to a less conspicuous garden bed.
Meanwhile, in the US, the family Trump was welcoming their new best friends, the Macrons.
The two presidents participated in almost identical ceremony.
The Donald was dressed for a day of green-thumb action in suit, red tie and full overcoat. Meanwhile, their wives were seen watching the two world leaders and their shovels with a weird fascination.
These pictures show four participants looking a lot like a longlost ABBA album cover. This tree is likewise being planted in the middle of a green lawn.
Obviously these aren’t simple family snaps.
They are official ceremonial photographs. Their purpose is to remind the rest of the world that these people are doing something important in this moment in time.
But why do we continue to do this?
Lining up for the camera feels like a 20th century notion.
When we were kids it was second nature. The Instamatic was regularly produced to capture birthdays, Christmases and random visits from interstate relatives.
Children were lined up like criminals. Tallest to shortest. Special presents were held proudly with both hands and everybody was told to smile at the same time because the film was limited.
The roll may have only been 12 exposures long and so the ritual of capture was important. We were trapping a moment in time.
But now it’s different. The average SLR camera shoots video, and you can catch frame after disposable frame on your phone. We have unlimited choice of image, filters and retouching. There is little art to catching the moment.
Last week Ryan Kelly of The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Virginia, won the Pulitzer Prize for “breaking news photography”. His picture captures the moment a car slams into a crowd of people during a “unite the right” rally.
This picture was one of a rapid-fire reel of options. He knew something was happening in the street and he turned his camera on to the moving vehicle. The technology of the camera did the rest of the work. It collected the moments faster than the human mind can process.
It’s a devastating photograph. But the untold story is that Kelly was on his last day of work. He got out of photojournalism to spend more time with his family. He now works in marketing for a brewery. But his picture will be remembered forever.
Light and timed exposure will be with us forever. We’re not stopping time any more; we are trying to keep up with the future.
Ross Mueller is a freelance writer and columnist.