Beauty That Doesn’t Translate on Film

This article is about beautiful things that we can’t seem to capture right on camera. It’s about the amount of intentionality that goes into creating the perfect photo. Of views. Of ourselves. It’s about the unhealthy attachments we have to ‘angles’ and the need for validation from the rest of the world. We think it looks good but, does it really count if others don’t? It’s a reminder that we can see beauty in everything and it is subjective. It’s about seeing the world as it is. There is room for creativity and altering here and there but, don’t ever forget that you’re all of that. And then some more. You are beautiful; even when the camera doesn’t agree with you. And so is that one lizard creeping along the sidewalk.

Beauty is subjective

We’re all familiar with the infamous line — beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. A phrase that suggests that a thing only needs to be beautiful in one’s eyes for it to be considered beautiful.

David Hume; one of the greatest philosophers of the 18th century was a firm believer in the concept that beauty is fundamentally subjective.

“Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty. One person may even perceive deformity, where another is sensible of beauty; and every individual ought to acquiesce in his own sentiment, without pretending to regulate those of others.”

But why are we upset when something we know to be beautiful, isn’t perceived as beautiful by others? or worse — by our own camera?

The need for validation.

A common phenomenon that many of us might have experienced is that it's never enough that we think something to be beautiful; others must too.

The beauty we perceive must now be proven. So we post that photograph as if to say — see? I saw something beautiful today. See? I’m pretty. See? I have an awesome life.

Even Hume himself would also suggest that beauty remains inert until something is judged as having beauty and there is a shared agreement of beauty. So then it does not count if there isn’t a mob behind you agreeing that it is beautiful. In the 21st century, the shared agreement seems synonymous with the number of likes a photo gets.

Apparently, not only does the camera have to agree with you on the beauty of the muse but, the mob has to agree with you too.

It is a very delicate dance to convince the camera and the mob.

Lights, Cameras, Action!

Why do we take photos? record videos? create….film? To simulate an experience, tell a story, and communicate perceptions, and feelings. To communicate beauty.

People think of photos and videos as ‘real’, but they’re not. They are specifically designed to play tricks with the visual cortex and to create a particular impression, accompanied by a particular response.

To get validation from the rest of the world; first of all, you need validation from your camera. And so we learn the tricks.

Angles, Lighting, flattering poses, filters, and photoshop.

And this is okay. It’s okay to put in the effort to get a flattering photo/video that pleases your camera and the mob. One might take a photo of a beautiful night sky or a magnificent building or a ridiculously cute puppy and understand what it is. We understand that we had to put in some effort to make the beauty of these things translate on film but, in real life, we still see the things in their entirety. In fact, many times we think they look better when seen in their entirety. But when it comes to our own selves, we’re suddenly not so merciful.

Attachment to an ‘angle’

The effect of being so very intentional to take a photo that creates a particular impression is that in the end — our photos have little to do with how we look but, with how we want to look.

We see ourselves only as that person in that angle, in that lighting, with that makeup on, with that pose, with that aesthetically pleasing background. And when a photo of us doesn’t fit this distorted version of ourselves, we are upset. We look unfamiliar. That’s not me, you say. But it is. The angles and lighting and posing? that is you. But every other thing is you as well.

There is a glaring ideological disparity between the mind’s eye and the camera lens — and to dedicate every moment to try to get the camera lens to see the beauty that our mind’s eye sees? is sure to drive one to lunacy.

In a non-competitive environment —

Witnessing beauty can be an isolated experience. Pause right now, look around you; focus your mind’s eye on whatever view you settle on and really drown in it. Isn’t it beautiful?