Subject: The value of roughing it

From Sidney Cammeresi

Harry Binswanger wrote:

> The philosophic meaning for me of this kind of vacation is a
> reminder, by contrast, of the value of civilization and technology.
> Manhattan is a man-made world; here we are immersed in what
> John Ridpath calls "the ongoing struggle" to tame nature.

I think there is more to it than that.  Reading a book would provide you
with much of the same knowledge, although directly experiencing a rougher
lifestyle yourself would certainly serve to give a fuller understanding
of the nature of such a life and intensify the related emotions.

Due to my hobby of photography, I own multiple cameras, and my favorite
is quite unique.  It is an enormous mechanical contraption called a view
camera, the design of camera used in the dawn of photography, the type
of camera with a bellows, which you focus with your head under a cloth,
and so forth.

My view camera is new, but the design has been essentially unchanged
for over 100 years.  Everything is completely manual, even more manual
than the most manual 35mm camera.  The entire process of setting up
my camera and taking a single picture can take me as long as an hour.
With a modern 35mm camera, you don't even think about something as mundane
as advancing the film after taking a picture, but with a view camera,
handling film involves loading film holders with sheets of film in the
dark, inserting the holders into the camera, pulling out a darkslide,
making the exposure, and tracking which holders have been exposed and
which haven't.  Maintaining mental focus is critical because there are
more ways to make mistakes than you can possibly imagine.

Why would I go through such a laborious process?

On 9-11 or the day after, fellow HBLer Ben Bayer and I were discussing the
"common man's" reaction to the attacks, and Mr. Bayer said he thought a
large component of the outrage was because the attacks had brought the
evil of terrorism to near the perceptual level.

While one cannot directly perceive evil, productivity, or achievement,
when I hold a finished print in my hand or when I am camping and start a
fire for warmth using only the tools I brought to do so, that moment is a
value to me because it brings my productivity and mental accomplishments
to near the perceptual level.

--
Copyright 2003 Sidney Cammeresi.  All rights reserved.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.