Photo Moods

The selfie is not king.

We asked Room 301 guests to take photos with an instant camera that represented their mood and write the corresponding mood on the photo. 

Perhaps most surprisingly, the majority of guests chose to take a photo of another person or people (42%), and just 24% of guests took a selfie. In today’s selfie and image obsessed culture, it was refreshing to see a focus on others. An equal number of guests took photos of objects as they did selfies (perhaps an interesting commentary on the selfie as an objectification of ourselves) followed by 10% choosing to represent their feelings through landscapes and scenery.

And those common moods? Vacation in sunny LA made a lot of guests feel silly/playful (10%) and happy/joyful (13.5%). Getting away from regular life also proved therapeutic, with many guests reporting feeling hopeful/inspired, loving/loved, gratitude and peace (34%). Even without being prompted, some guests used the photo moods as an opportunity for confession or catharsis, with a few mentions of greed, envy and pride. Overwhelmingly though, moods were positive -- which either speaks to the joy a vacation/staycation can bring, or perhaps the effect of the camera lens on how we perceive and document our own feelings.