What if...
...photography had never been invented?
A few weeks ago, I read the novel “If Cats Disappeared from the World” by Japanese author Genki Kawamura. The story is about a man, living alone with his beloved cat. This man - who has received a terminal diagnosis - is approached by the devil who is making him an offer: the man will be given one more day to live but as a tradeoff, the devil will make one thing disappear from the world.
Every day the devil shows up at the man’s doorstep and tells him what he would make disappear if the man decides to have his life prolonged by one day. And so it happens that day after day, first phones, then movies and then clocks disappear from the world. When the devil shows up again and offers him another day but in return would make all cats disappear, the man rejects the offer. The pure thought people would have to live without cats and the joy and companionship they bring just so he would have one more day is unbearable to him.
One can argue about the originality of this story, but I enjoyed the read and it instantly made me wonder what the world would be like if photographs and cameras would disappear from the world. And I asked myself the question:
What if photography had never been invented?
How would our world look like today if there were no cameras and therefore no photographs?
Photography, from the minute it was invented almost 200 years ago, has had a tremendous influence on personal lives, culture and society, science and technology and the world as a whole.
I - and probably most of you as well - lived my whole life surrounded by cameras and photographs: photographs of the family, from past travels, parties, weddings… you name it. There is a photo in my drivers licence, my passport and on my speeding ticket. We find photographs in books, magazines and advertisements. There are photos as decoration on the walls of our living rooms, photos on the cereal box in our kitchen and photos on the shampoo bottle in our shower.
Photography is everywhere.
Photography is being used in science, medicine and technology. I doubt our knowledge in all these different fields would be as advanced as it is today if photography had not been invented.
There also wouldn’t be moving pictures and therefore no TV, no Netflix and probably no internet. At least, not the kind of internet we know and use today. Social Media wouldn't be the same without photographs if there would be such a thing at all.
Photographs serve as a personal and collective memory. We document private moments the same way as important historical events: we photograph them.
What and how much would we remember if we didn’t have cameras? And how would our perception of the world be different? Would we still document the world around us by drawing, painting and writing as our ancestors did 200 years ago?1
As the protagonist in the novel is being forced to decide what is being removed from the world, he finds himself confronted with his own memories and feelings attached to these objects and how much impact these seemingly small and ordinary things can have on people and their lives.
As the story explores the themes of loss and mortality it also reminded me - particularly in relation but not limited to photography - how much everything is connected, dependent and enriching each other.
I know, it is a bit silly to wonder about things like that, but thinking about it makes you realize that photography changes everything as Marvin Heifermann writes in his book of the same title:
“far from being a passive recording technology, photography is catalytic. While we tend to think of photographs as rearview mirrors, the reality is that photography aggressively moves us forward and changes everything.”
So, if - at the end of your life - the devil would show up at your doorstep and offer you one more day, but in exchange, he would make photography disappear: How would you decide? What do you think would be different? Where has photography the biggest impact? I would love to know.
That’s it from me today.
Thank you for being here and for reading this week’s newsletter. It means a lot to me!
X,
Susanne
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I know, we still use all these today for the same reasons…
What a thought you put in our heads, Susanne. My initial thought was that it must be hell if no photos or images would exist anymore, as I am a visually oriented person. On second thought I guess the good old storytelling would rise again. And by that I mean real storytelling, not the hype word it has become. Love this essay. Thanks.
well, do i know what would happened if photography wasn't invented? no. can i presume? yes, but will be only a presumption and probably not the correct one. so i won't answer the question. but your question reminded me of an article that i read a few years ago, it was based on an experiment: a large number of people were asked if they had to move on a remote island and they can take with them one single item what that item will be; by far the majority answered: the photo album.