Endurance

 My recent visits to view the rock art at a couple sites that are part of the Petroglyph National Monument got me to thinking about the production and life span of images.  Indigenous people throughout the world created compelling visual records of important aspects of their cultures which in many cases have endured for thousands of years.  They did so using the simplest of tools along with patience and perseverance.  This petroglyph found at Crow Canyon, for instance, depicts important qualities of Navajo culture including their reflex-recurve bow design which they brought centuries ago from the far North.

By contrast, the millions of images produced daily using our technologically advanced methods and tools have life spans which can mostly be measured in hours, or even less.  Publishing them online or storing them on hard drives enhances longevity only an insignificant amount.  If a lasting impact is a goal, then trading a camera collection for a chisel and hammer would probably be a good choice.