As a “digger” and collector of things, I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and the excitement of discovery whether out in the field or being hipped to something by a dealer or fellow collector. In the field discoveries are always the best but when you’ve built relationships with dealers who have deep knowledge and know exactly the types of things that you’re into, they’ll often put items on your radar that fits your tastes perfectly. The more we collect and knowledgeable we become, we often times realize that we’ve only just scratched the surface and that there’s way more out there to be explored and discovered. No one collector can have everything and that’s what makes each individuals collection special and unique to them. But social media has become the gift and the curse for digging and collecting. It connected us to others who share the same interests but also made people go from real world discovering to seeing what others have and post on Instagram to use as a guide to build their own collections. It’s become easier just to see what others have, immediately go to Discogs or eBay and hit buy it now. No adventure, no thrill of the hunt, just instant and very temporary satisfaction.
Discovery doesn’t just mean things you collect, it also means places that you explore as well. As a world traveler, I’ve always enjoyed “getting lost” and stumbling onto places off the beaten path or simply places that only the locals go to or know about. Whether it’s in Tokyo, Seoul, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York or here in Philadelphia, there’s always something to be found that’s new to you but not new to the landscape. From restaurants to galleries, books and collectibles to clothing, new or secondhand, seeing something for the first time as if you were on an archeological dig makes the day and sets up what may possibly be your secret spot. For years, people have always had their spots that they kept close, gate kept from others and enjoyed without them being overcrowded or ran through. For collectors, we kept our spots close and never told “the competition” about them, at least until we’ve mined all of the gems. For those who have their favorite restaurants and can get in without having to wait in line, it felt like you had an all access pass where the staff knew your name and seated you as soon as you walked in or would gesture to sit where you like.
Being a local or regular has it’s privileges but over the last decade, there seems to really be a shift in how we discover or enjoy things. The once chance stumbling onto things has been ruined by social media and the influencer who likes to tell you about the hidden gem or under the radar spots that we already knew about but suddenly every tourists now decides to visit because of an influencer who might have gone there once and suddenly is an authority. We’ve seen it across the globe, the local mom and pop shops are now flooded with annoying and often times rude tourists, the neighborhood bar is suddenly less locals and more out-of-towners that act like out-of-towners. Everything suddenly became less cultural and instantly just a to do checklist because an influencers says you have to be there. You would be surprised of the amount of messages that I receive from people saying “hey, I’m going to so and so city, what record shops should I hit, what should I do, or where should I go”? which always baffles me. So wait, you booked a trip somewhere because that destination is suddenly the cool one that everyone is going to and you didn’t research or do your homework on things that you’d like to do and places that you’d like to eat? I am not your travel guide nor are you paying me as such. Why would I give up the list of places that I took time to discover on my own just to make your life easier? That’s pure laziness but that seems to be the new norm. The days of flipping the pages of the phone book was replaced by Google and now that we can Google things, people have chosen to skip what is already an easy task and ask others who have already been someplace. I’m extremely baffled by all of this and how people discover and find things that they are into are would enjoy. I’ve spent years traveling and discovering and even the locals at time ask me how I knew about something that they didn’t even know about. The answer is simple, I love seeing whats out there and want to experience the city or country to the fullest. Sure, getting recommendations to point you in the right direction is always a plus. But once you’re familiar with those recommendations, you adjust accordingly and dig deeper.
The art of the discovery also has a deeper place for communication amongst people. Having conversations with fellow humans who might have traveled somewhere and them saying, “I discovered this really cool shop” has become less common because so many people are following the recommendations of influencers and not taking personal journeys. Human interactions and conversations are important to our well being, especially in the real world and in real time. You can’t compare the excitement of speaking with some in public versus sending a text or DM, it just doesn’t hit the same and isn’t as special.
I once saw a t-shirt years ago that said something to the effect that there’s a special place in hell for things that made us lazy or easier for anyone to do something like digital photography, digital DJ’ing etc. People who don’t actually study the craft and think just shooting a picture is photography or playing music for an audience is DJ’ing. There’s a certain knowledge and experience that comes with calling yourself a photographer, DJ, graphic designer etc. So I guess we can add food influencers who have never worked in a kitchen or restaurant, travel influencers who have never broke bread with the locals and AI to that list as well.
Dig for yours and enjoy the journey of personal discovery.