Graham Zimmerman flaking the rope after a stellar day of climbing on the Skywalk Buttress (ED1: 5.9, ) on Combatant Mountain (3756m).
Shooting for the Summit
A reluctant mountaintop portraitist considers the role of the selfie
“What do you think of this statement?” I asked a number of photographer friends. “Selfies are the opposite of photography.”
It’s a loaded question, of course, but the subject of selfies itself is loaded, and none of my photographer friends have given me a straight answer. Won’t touch it with a ten-foot selfie stick. They just laugh and refrain from making judgmental statements or agreeing/disagreeing.
I’ve never been a huge proponent of selfies. Whenever I’m in nature, I think blocking any percentage of a photo of beautiful scenery with my own face in the foreground is a mistake. I’m also overly sensitive about appearing to be a narcissist. And I tell myself I was born too late to embrace the selfie: By the time everyone was taking them, I’d already started to look in the mirror and think my best-looking days were in the past. It was bad enough to catch glimpses of myself in full sunlight in a car window and
1,300 words to go
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