Walker Percy The Loss Of The Creature Summary

Photography in Contemporary Society

Photography in its purest form is meant to be an art that preserves memories and events, however, it is often muddled with misuse. Photography essentially enhances an experience by providing a way to gain new perspectives of a subject years later. However, in contemporary society, photography has become more of a task in itself rather than an aid to experiencing a subject in real life. In his 1954 essay “The Loss of the Creature,” author Walker Percy builds on this claim by arguing that when one photographs an event, one misses out on experiencing the event itself, obtaining merely a representation of it. Overall, photography is valuable in contemporary society, but when misused, can detract from an experience.

The human brain’s nature of remembering important details but forgetting past experiences magnifies the importance of photography in contemporary society. The multiplication tables we learn in grade school or the phone numbers of close relatives is something we can remember quite easily, but a struggle arises when recollecting the fine details of a family trip. This is because our memory is continuously jogged by using phone numbers and math tables every day, while big family events and trips only happen once in a lifetime. These are the situations where photography plays an important role. It facilitates the process of remembering past events through a physical medium, photos of the events. For example, I have been on many trips in my lifetime, yet I find it hard to recall my specific childhood trips to Yellowstone and Disney World. However, one look into a photo album returns the precious memories of large mountains in Wyoming or a family lunch with Mickey and Minnie Mouse to me. With such photos, my original experience becomes more than just a trip, evolving into a gateway into the past. I can see in those photos how I have changed from an innocent, carefree eight year old boy to currently being a high schooler embarking on a journey to college and adulthood. Moreover, those images provided me with a way to reminisce about my life when I was younger, and how I grew as a person by giving me concrete examples of my life as a child. In this way, photography gave me an additional point of interaction in my original experience. This was because of my changing worldview giving me new perspectives on the events that happened years ago. Nevertheless, all these situations have one common similarity: photography was used organically as a supplement to interacting with the event itself.
Photography can detract from an experience when used incorrectly.

The use of photography is an issue when one considers it as a task instead of a supplement to an experience because there is the cost of not being able to truly engage in the subject. Engaging in a subject is confronting and being part of the subject, using all five senses to make oneself immersed in the setting. When one takes a photo, it does not replace the knowledge that is gained from engaging in the subject. Rather, it is only a representation of the object or event. This is the argument that Percy is making when he writes: “instead of looking at [the Grand Canyon], he photographs it... there is no confrontation at all… at the end of forty years of preformulation and with the Grand Canyon yawning at his feet, [He] waives his right of seeing and knowing and records symbols for the next forty years.” Percy argues that when the sightseer simply photographs the Grand Canyon instead of facing and engaging with it, he or she loses the true experience of being at the Grand Canyon. Consequently, The sightseer has a record of being there, but did not gain the growth or knowledge from truly engaging with it. Percy’s argument applies more broadly to contemporary society because photography hinders one’s ability to experience when used as a task. For example, in my visit to Yellowstone National Park, I spent more time taking photos of different geysers and mountains than looking at and admiring their beauty. By giving more importance to taking photos of those natural wonders instead of admiring them, I now have a record of being there, but do not have the knowledge on what the shading of the rocks indicate, or what taking a relaxing walk in the long trails feels like. While using photography properly can provide many benefits, misusing it can limit one’s growth and knowledge gained from engaging with a

subject.
Photography can be immensely valuable to its users by providing multiple points of interaction in a single experience, but when used incorrectly, can inhibit one’s ability to learn and grow. A photo or image makes the process of recalling past events easier, and also provides a method of developing new perspectives on the event. However, as Percy noted, photos can also be representative of hollow symbols with no benefit to the user. While photography has many different applications in contemporary society, it is ultimately the goal of the user to make it not only something useful, but something meaningful in every way possible.