As record crowds gathered inside the National Mall to witness Barack Obama take the oath of office, shutters snapped. From cell phones to point-and-shoots to DSLRs, it seemed everyone wanted to have their finger on the pulse of history, quite literally. Even people with front row seats on the steps of the Capitol took in the Inaugural action through their viewfinders and LCDs. One of my favorite take away images from the day was of Malia Obama collecting snapshots of her father with her grape colored Kodak Easyshare.

As I settled into our khaki-colored conference room to watch CNN’s coverage of the Inaugural proceedings, I noticed that one of my coworkers had begun recording the screen with her point-and-shoot. Sitting in my bluish-gray swivel chair, ducking acerbic comment after snarky quip from other smarter editors about Michelle Obama’s dress and Cheney’s wheelchair, I wondered: Has the entire country gone snap-happy?

CNN’s Photosynth technology, enabled via Silverlight, was another, albeit more advance way of historicizing the moment. Adjusting the resolution, color, and brightness, the software offered a 3D picture slideshow of multiple still images. My father and I watched the post-game highlights that night, as CNN’s political correspondent blew up images, displayed panoramic views, and explored interesting angles with a single touch. My father and I exchanged glances as we witnessed the far-reaching possibilities of technical innovation. Indeed, technology has come a long way since the days of waiting for Life Magazine to arrive.

I recall a friend that once told me about a Japanese emperor that traveled throughout Japan and wrote Haikus in order to document what he had observed. Maybe the photos that we collect from moments seen and vaguely remembered are our form of haiku; a way of stamping our fingerprints onto the thick canons of cultural history, and saying “I was there.”

See what our web editor, Alysha Sideman, captured from the crowd, as our on-site reporter here: www.imaginginfo.com

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Tara Propper. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.