Everyone has that one friend. You know the one—the person who makes the entire group wait three minutes to eat their tacos because the lighting in the restaurant is "too good to pass up." We live in an era where people that take pictures are no longer a niche group of hobbyists with darkrooms and expensive chemicals. Nowadays, it’s basically everyone with a thumb and a smartphone. Honestly, it’s changed the way we actually experience being alive.
According to various industry estimates, humans took roughly 1.6 trillion photos in 2023. That’s a number so large it basically loses all meaning. But if you look at the data from sites like Passport-Photo Online, you’ll see a weird trend: we aren't just taking photos for memories anymore. We’re taking them for validation, for work, and sometimes just because we don't know what else to do with our hands at a concert.
The Evolution of the Casual Shooter
It used to be hard. Taking a photo meant buying a roll of Kodak Gold 200, winding the film, and hoping you didn't accidentally expose the whole thing to light when you opened the back of the camera. People that take pictures today don't have that "fear of failure." If a shot is blurry, you delete it. If the color is off, you slap a filter on it or use an AI-assisted "Magic Eraser" to remove the trash can in the background.
This shift has created a new kind of visual literacy. We "read" images faster than text now. Instagram and Pinterest have trained our brains to look for "leading lines" and "the rule of thirds" without us even realizing we’re doing it. It’s kinda fascinating how a teenager today probably has a better grasp of composition than a professional wedding photographer did in 1985.
The Psychology of "The Shot"
Why do we do it? Dr. Linda Henkel from Fairfield University once conducted a famous study on the "photo-taking impairment effect." She found that when people took photos of objects in a museum, they were actually less likely to remember the details of those objects later. It’s like our brains outsource the memory to the cloud. We think, "I don't need to remember this, my iPhone has it."
But there’s a flip side. Other researchers, like those published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggest that taking photos can actually increase our enjoyment of certain experiences. It forces us to look closer. You notice the way the light hits the condensation on a glass or the specific shade of orange in a sunset. You’re more engaged because you’re hunting for beauty.
💡 You might also like: Converting 50 Degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius: Why This Number Matters More Than You Think
The Different Tribes of People That Take Pictures
Not all photographers are created equal. You’ve got the Street Photographers, who are basically the ninjas of the art world. They spend hours walking through cities like New York or Tokyo, waiting for two strangers to cross paths in a way that looks poetic. They’re obsessed with "The Decisive Moment," a term coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Then you have the Foodies. People love to hate them, but food photography is a legit skill. It’s about more than just a burger; it’s about the steam, the texture of the bun, and making someone on the other side of a screen feel hungry.
- The Travel Influencer: Always has a tripod. Usually wakes up at 4:00 AM to get a shot of the Trevi Fountain without a thousand other tourists in it.
- The Proud Parent: Their camera roll is 98% blurry photos of a toddler sleeping or eating spaghetti. These are arguably the most important photos ever taken, even if they never win a Pulitzer.
- The Professional: They’re the ones carrying two Sony A7RVs and looking stressed about the "golden hour" ending.
The Ethics of the Lens
Is it okay to take a picture of a stranger? That’s a huge debate. In the US, generally, if you’re in a public space, you don't have a "reasonable expectation of privacy." But just because it’s legal doesn't mean it isn't creepy. People that take pictures often have to navigate this weird moral gray area.
Street photographer Bruce Gilden is famous for jumping out and flashing people in the face with his camera. Some call it genius; others call it assault. It’s a polarizing topic. Then you have the rise of "disaster tourism," where people take selfies in front of places where tragedies happened. It’s a reminder that the camera can be a tool for empathy, but it can also be a shield that disconnects us from reality.
The Hardware Arms Race
Even though "the best camera is the one you have with you," people are still obsessed with gear. The global digital camera market is still worth billions, despite smartphones being incredibly good. Why? Because a physical sensor that’s an inch wide will always capture more light than a tiny pinhole on a phone.
📖 Related: Clothes hampers with lids: Why your laundry room setup is probably failing you
Brands like Fujifilm have seen a massive resurgence lately. The X100V and X100VI became so popular on TikTok that they were backordered for a year. People want their digital photos to look like film. They want "soul." They want grain. It’s a weird cycle where we spent decades trying to make photos perfectly clear, and now we’re spending money to make them look "old" and "imperfect" again.
Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity
If you take 50 photos of your cat today, how many will you actually look at in five years? Probably none. The "digital clutter" problem is real. We are drowning in images.
Expert curators often suggest the "one-in-ten" rule. For every ten photos you take, delete nine. It sounds harsh, but it forces you to actually look at what you’ve captured. It turns you from someone who just "snaps" into someone who "sees."
The Rise of Analog in a Digital World
It’s impossible to talk about people that take pictures without mentioning the return of film. Vinyl records made a comeback in music, and now 35mm film is doing the same. Gen Z is buying up old Canon AE-1s and Pentax K1000s from eBay.
There’s something tactile about it. You only get 36 shots. Each one costs about 50 cents to a dollar once you factor in the cost of the roll and the developing. That cost makes you pause. It makes you check the edges of the frame. It makes the act of taking a picture feel like an event again, rather than a reflex.
👉 See also: Christmas Treat Bag Ideas That Actually Look Good (And Won't Break Your Budget)
Actionable Steps for Better Photos
If you want to move beyond just being someone who takes pictures and start being someone who creates images, you don't need a $3,000 Leica. You just need a bit of intentionality.
1. Clean your lens. Honestly, this is the biggest mistake people make. Your phone spends all day in your pocket or on a table. It has a layer of finger grease on the lens. Wipe it with your shirt before you take a photo. It’ll instantly make your shots sharper and remove that weird "haze" around lights.
2. Look for the light, not the subject. This is a pro secret. Instead of looking for a "cool building," look for a "cool patch of light." If you find a beautiful beam of sunlight hitting a brick wall, wait for someone to walk through it. The light is what makes the photo, not the object itself.
3. Use the grid. Turn on the 3x3 grid in your camera settings. Put your subject on one of the intersecting lines instead of dead center. It’s called the Rule of Thirds, and it’s the easiest way to make a photo look "professional" instantly.
4. Move your feet. Don't just stand at eye level. Crouch down. Climb on a chair. Change the perspective. Most people take pictures from 5.5 feet off the ground because that’s where their eyes are. If you change the height, you show people a world they don’t usually see.
5. Edit, don't just filter. Use apps like Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed. Instead of clicking "Vivid," try lowering the highlights and bumping the shadows. It gives the image more depth and makes it look less like a "phone photo."
Ultimately, the world of people that take pictures is about storytelling. Whether it's a blurry shot of a concert or a meticulously planned landscape, you’re saying, "I saw this, and it mattered to me." The tech will keep changing—we’ll probably be taking 3D spatial photos for Apple Vision Pro headsets soon—but the impulse remains the same. We want to stop time. We want to hold onto a moment before it slips away. Just remember to put the camera down every once in a while and actually look at the sunset with your own two eyes. It’s got way better resolution than any screen ever will.