1980s: We plan a gathering for every picture, and get it framed. It is among the prized possessions of our households. Each photograph was an event.

1990s: The giant black box dangling from the enthusiast uncle's neck can only take 36 pictures at a time, so each photograph makes sense and lands up in a family album we keep showing to everyone who visits our home.

2000s: The digital cameras have come in the market so there's no need to worry about negatives, and the number of photographs taken increases significantly, and instead of albums, we connect the camera to the TV every time someone comes over.

2010s: I have two cameras in my phone, I take pictures of myself even from the bathroom. I cry, I click. I laugh, I click. I fart, I click. And then, I upload them all on Facebook, and wait in agony for the likes and the comments. I consider it a massive blow of incompetency if my hideous and pointless images aren't worshipped by a stock of others like me who want the same in return. You know what, the only reason I click 98% of my pictures is because I want people to like them when I will upload them online.

Or, I buy an expensive single lens reflex off my father's/mother's bank account, and stick it close to any object I find, click, and upload it on Facebook too. Sometimes I even take images of the sky with absolutely nothing in it, just for the effect. Although I fail to realise that it was just a blue square that I had just uploaded online. And suddenly, when I give captions to my spectacular images, I'm a poet also. I quote everyone, from legendary rappers to notable hip-hop artists. What I quote is well, some abstract combination of words which are amazingly pointless, subtly referring to some metaphorical suggestion I'm pretty sure half my Facebook friends won't understand. Exactly what I want. I even punctuate my sentences, unlike the über-cool script I usually use while I chat, which is vaguely reminiscent of English.

Although, if my father doesn't buy me an SLR, I have my phone still with me. I download a mobile application which adds this uncanny hue to every picture. I don't know why I am doing it, I can see the image blur and go awkward, but since a million others like me are doing it, I guess it is right. I look at it for a couple of seconds, and well, now it's pretty awesome. Yes, I also love using the word 'awesome' for everything.
And sometimes, I even upload photos without editing them at all. Yep, just like that, a plain image from my cellphone. What is the image about? Well, it's just me, looking into the darkness, reflecting on the world's greatest problems and thinking of some effective solution to all of it. Yes, I am also a philosopher, and an insightful thinker. I enter online debates, and I have knowledge about almost everything. Well, that's because I can Google pretty fast, but that's what my counterpart is doing as well, so it's cool.

I am taking another picture of myself right now. Perhaps I'll edit it also. And then I'll look up some amazing lyrics of a popular rock song even I don't understand. And then I'll upload it on Facebook, in the album "The Above-Average Teenager."

It'll be awesome. Freakin' awesome.

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