Nightlife photography: A rant

The internet, besides being a warm glow in a dark room and my most consistent friend, is good to me. I am incredibly dexterous in its maneuvering, it has produced some of my best friends and greatest laughs, and its the only way I'm ever really reachable.

Aside from lolcats, youtube and obscure videogames, the internet has a dark, treacherous side, luring young unsuspecting girls (and boys) into doing heinous acts. The internet is responsible for an addiction, a dirty habit that has surfaced with a vengeance in the past year. Alongside myspace came this new phenomenon, and not only is it dangerous, but its demeaning.

Yes, my friends. Nightlife photography.

But Leila, what is this nightlife photography? Didn't you yourself participate in it?

This is true. Many years ago, I employed myself as a photographer for mtldnb.com, snapping shots and documenting parties. Here is the thing - I didn't realize NP (nightlife photography, or near porn or no pride) would be viral. I didn't know it would lead to this:

A teeming squirming pukefest

Yes, LNP is probably the worst offender, but every city has that one hipster blog that makes parties look like SO much fun. Why aren't my friends having this much fun? Why don't we get asked to take runny eyeliner pictures in a telephone booth in Berlin...or worse, on Sullivan street! Why don't my friends have careless lives and flawless skin?

Because the people who exist in nightlife photography exist FOR nightlife photography. Here we are, in the age of the internet, where we all feel like we have this self-important right to be heard. We have youtube, blogs (the irony is duly noted), facebook - all of these mechanisms that entirely satiate our desire to see and be seen. There we are, internet stalking people we met the night before, telling the world about our lives in publicly accessible forums.

That notion, the notion that we are all glorious creatures that deserve the world's attention, has spawned NP. Suddenly we have new icons and avatars that bear that little watermark saying nickydigital or everyoneisfamous on the bottom. Suddenly we feel like pseudo celebrities with the flash going off, hoping that we made the cut the next day when we scroll the blogs. Look at us, our skin perfect from the washed out light, our hair delightfully amiss.

And those who depend on the nightlife (for money, sex, some sense of validation) are now depending on their appearances at these blogs. Here is someone documenting what was once undocumented (who was seen where, from everything to the Misshapes to Trouble & Bass)

The bottom line is its just a big ego fest, and its done in the most sleazy of ways.

But perhaps I'm jealous. Perhaps I want to be seen online. But I really think that I am just so amazed that anyone out there has the energy to create and sustain (and stay interested in!) the world depicted in nightlife photography.

That is all.