Ali Lilly

ENGL 1010
Bogle
Dec 2, 2020

Consumer Memoir

When I was pondering about what I consume on a very regular basis a few things came to

mind. Obviously food and water was the first thing I thought of. The second thing I thought of

was social media which I may have a slight addiction to. The third thing I thought of was TV

shows or movies which I consume on a daily. I thought that all three of these things were not at

all interesting, but then I came to a realization that I have recently become a very large consumer

of film cameras and film. I got my first film camera months ago hopping to gain a new hobby

during the quarantine. What was supposed to be a hobby quickly became an addiction. The

meaning of film cameras go deeper than I thought they ever would.

I bought my first film camera thinking that I would only own one camera, but now I own

seven. Each camera is special to me because each one allows me to capture memories so that I

can go back and look at my past. I take at least one camera with me where ever I go. I never

leave the house without one. I believe that I didn’t get addicted to the physical cameras, but I

became addicted to looking back at my pictures and remembering the story behind each one.

Before getting into my new passion I was not the type of person who loved “capturing

moments”. I knew many people who loved to take pictures of absolutely everything. My mind

couldn’t understand as to why these people did what they did until I started doing the same. I

realized that I see beautiful things every day, and I made so many memories every day. My

mindset changed and I came to the conclusion that one day I will forget a lot of things that

happened in my life and if I want to remember them I better start documenting them now.
Ali Lilly
ENGL 1010
Bogle
Dec 2, 2020

My consumption of film cameras has brought into closer relationships with the people I

love and care about. I have so many pictures of my friends and our countless adventures. I love

gifting my friends the picture that I take of out adventures and hang outs. I believe that taking

pictures and giving them to my friends has actually brought us closer. They now truly know how

much I value them, and how much I cherish their presence in my life. I’ve also enjoyed taking

pictures of my family especially my grandmother. She is an extraordinary woman who has lived

and amazingly long life. Sadly I’m not one hundred percent sure how many years I will have left

with her so I want to capture as many memories with as I can. Being a large consumer of film

cameras has completely changed the way I view the world and everything in it.

Many people may have regrets with items they consume. For myself I regret how often I

consume Chick-fil-a. It is not the best for me and I could be spending my money on better things.

Along with the fact the overall company of Chick-fil-a believes in certain “morals” that I cannot

support or get behind. What I absolutely will never regret is my consumption of film cameras.

There is nothing to regret. I’ve been able to form closer relationships with the people who I care

most about. At first I didn’t know what I was doing when it came down loading film and

unfortunately that lead to me wasting three to four rolls of film which is the only thing I regret

because I wasted my money and I wasted film which was a waste of materials.

In conclusion out of the many things that I consume of on a daily basis both good and bad

the one thing that I believe to the most meaningful is my consumption of film cameras and film.

My rapidly growing collection of cameras and my hundreds of pictures captured is evidence of

how often I consume these items. I get to capture memories with the push of a button. I’ve been
Ali Lilly
ENGL 1010
Bogle
Dec 2, 2020

able to form far more meaningful relationships and I have no big regrets about my consumption.

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