What does your photography style say about you?

Curiosity, after all, is an essential human instinct. Know thyself, the ancient Greeks urged us. Today, that existential endeavor is waiting for Spotify to reveal your top five songs (at least two will surprise you), and taking a quiz to find out what the winter food that embodies you says about you.

For most of human history, this quest for knowledge—and the quest for self-discovery—was the preserve of the privileged few. Later, although psychology and behavioral science became part of public discourse in the 20th century, the subject retained an academic flavor. Typical personality tests offered an alphabetical potpourri of results—ENFJ, ISTP, Type A, Type B—that were more likely to confuse than enlighten. People needed simpler and more accessible ways to understand themselves, and with the advent of the new millennium, the Internet delivered.

In the West, part entertainment and part popular psychology personality quizzes are regularly featured in lifestyle magazines. But it was in the digital world that these quizzes really flourished. The World Wide Web democratized personality testing. With a shared online idiom and shared pop-culture experiences, users in Nepal can now take quizzes created by contributors in New York. These quizzes added to their appeal that any kind of animal, person, or thing could be turned into a psychometric device. Indeed, Freud would have drawn a sharp breath and uttered a startled oath if he could have seen how a modern-day quiz could psychoanalyze someone based on their favorite Game of Thrones character.

However, there is one glaring gap in the repertoire of these personality tests; A fatal omission in their toolkit, never more relevant than during the year-end holiday season: an appreciation of what our style of travel photography can reveal about our nature.

As any keen student of human behavior knows, there are four types of travel-photographers. First, you have Selfie Takers, a film whose primary activity is self-evident. The selfie-taker lives up to the saying that there’s no scenic spot that a selfie-taker can’t take advantage of. (As a child, he wanted to draw his name in wet cement.) The selfie-taker is independent and independent. He is known to have never passed a mirrored surface without stealing a glance at his reflection. He is noted for his persistence and optimism, at least in the case of this writer, who spent years trying in vain to find an angle that didn’t make his nose look like a blob of plasticine.

The second group of travel-photographers are those who take pictures of everything. As Lord of the Rings fans may recall, Boromir once described them as having “great eyes” that are “ever alert”. Their rolling gaze captures everyone. No frame beneath them, no vista worth clicking. They are thorough and meticulous. At university, their notes helped the entire class graduate. They can find worldly beauty. Every time they start telling a story, a ghostly look appears in the eyes of their listeners, who, after 40 minutes, can be seen walking away with shocked expressions on their faces. They tend to be hoarders and spend a fortune on cloud storage subscription fees.

If you’re partial to a video, you’re third class. You are a person of action; The persistence of still photography is not for you. You are energetic and expressive. You always put family first. At each tourist attraction, you start a video call and turn to the place like the light of a lighthouse, to share the panoramic view with your relatives. You are confident and never distracted by the glares of fellow tourists as you accompany your videos with enthusiastic commentary. You can find joy in simple things – like someone tripping and falling down the stairs – as long as you’re able to record them.

A fourth and final breed of traveler-photographers are the elite, the masters of the craft: those brandishing digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. DSLR-carriers have a reputation for being cerebral, even a touch nerdy. He doesn’t believe in half measures. Once she chooses a path, she commits with passion and zeal. She wears her identity proudly—quite literally, in fact, as a digital camera, with its cyclopean lens, hangs from her neck at all times. She is aloof and keeps her distance from the public like tourists with phone cameras, but she occasionally offers them a charming smile. She often worries about whether she should sell her kidney to buy a new telephoto lens. Her clothes have many pockets.

So this December, when you’re busy clicking pictures at a vacation destination and wondering what your fitness app’s “year in review” says about you, don’t hesitate to consult this guide to gain more insight into your personality. After all, who better to say who you are than someone on the Internet?

Banerjee is a lawyer and writer from Mumbai