We just started our Rabble & Twine Instagram (Holla! @rabbleandtwine) and it’s got us thinking about all different kinds of snapshots that are floating around out there. The evolution of how we document our lives and the art in our lives. Nowadays, we take more photos every two minutes then all of the photos taken in the 1800s!

The Streatham portrait is a painting famous not for its artistic merit, but because it’s suspected to be the only depiction of Lady Jean Gray, England’s teenage regent for nine days in the summer of 1553 before “Bloody” Mary took the thrown (and Lady Gray’s head). Supposedly it’s a hasty copy of an earlier (and let’s hope better) painting. 300 years later Buzzer, a San Franciscan feline, managed to photobomb its way into so many photos it could claim to be “the most photographed cat in america” (I’m sure Maru has easily surpassed Buzzer’s record since then, just more evidence of America’s decline in important geopolitical matters).

At the last arena show I went to – Fleetwood Mac (YES, it was everything Stevie Nicks gypsy dreams are made of). I saw dozens of smartphones filming the show.  I was tempted myself to keep on taking photos. I did take a few, so that later on I could say I was there and remember the glory of Mic Fleetwood’s ponytail!  At the same time, I didn’t want to be distracted from the performance. I remember some really great shows where everybody was enjoying themselves so much no one took any pictures, those proceedings are lost to time. Usually, I adopt an everything in moderation philosophy when it comes to photos. Take a few snapshots to document and then it is time to be present in the moment. I like to think of snapshots as a memory. Moments frozen in time.

When do you pull your camera out and when do you keep your phone in your pocket? Do you document your work? What do you think makes a good snapshot?