We have become archivists of the self, I thought, curators of a life half-lived. Each countless photograph of a wonder, of dinner, of a view, of our children, of the utter banality of our everyday lives, was not a memento, a way of remembering the things we did, but instead evidence of the poverty of our engagement with the present moment. We frame... See more

What could painting do that a camera could not? Different answers to this question gave rise to various modern art movements. The Impressionists rejected detailed studies in favor of quick snapshots that captured the essence of their subjects. Cubism focused on form, Futurism on movement, and Surrealism on states of consciousness.