Before you judge people for taking pictures instead of being present in the moment, remember that not everyone has the same rituals for experiencing the world. You may find photography hinders your appreciation, but for me, photography helps me be more present, not less. Looking at the world through my camera helps me see the aesthetic beauty of my surroundings, and to pay attention to details I would otherwise have missed. Photographing something amazing is not ignoring it or reducing it to just something to post on Instagram. Photographing something amazing is appreciating it as art.

I get what you are trying to do — tell people to live in the moment instead of taking pictures — but the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Also, it’s not true that we are incapable of focusing on both taking the photo and having the memory. We learn and remember best when we take in information through multiple media — seeing, hearing, speaking, touching, etc. Taking a photo and thinking of the experience in aesthetic terms engages another part of the brain and helps us remember better, not worse.