Hello dear reader!
Today I’ll talk about attention. To break the text, I’ll add some photos I shot over the last few days. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I would have missed them.
Here’s a very common scene: A group sitting in a restaurant, chatting about something. Phones out, scrolling. Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok -or any other attention-grabbing app- while the conversation keeps going.
It’s like we are living (or trying to live) in the past and future, but not the present. We scroll through what other people have lived and posted about, or we message others; others who are not the ones in front of us. Either way, it’s not engaging in the present with the people physically in the same space.
It has become a competition for attention: the 3D people in the same space vs the device showing others’ lives or the most recent notification. And sometimes, the little device wins.
Why am I writing about it today? Good question. Because through photography, I’ve been reclaiming my attention and presence.
When I’m out doing street photography, I need to be present. Being present is more than showing up physically — my mind and senses need to be engaged too. It’s not about multitasking. It’s about doing one thing with my full attention. I don’t reach for my phone to scroll through Instagram - a moment on the street can vanish in a second.
Our attention has been monetized. Choosing to give our attention to the people we are with, is a decision we can make every day. It’s about catching the facial expressions, the hand gestures, the small moments that no notification will ever show.
Next time you sit down with someone, don’t take the phone out, or at least leave it face-down. Notice what you would have missed.
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Luis
