Rabbit's state manager, Alan Leaf, says the business of taking photos is ruled by seasonal factors. The more sunlight, the more we're out, the more we socialise, the more opportunities for creating photographic memories. But despite the torch passing through some colder climes, nothing seems to have dissuaded the nation's assiduous photographers. Enter the big-event theory. It goes something like this, according to Agfa's regional manager, Rob Minty.
Big events are a trigger for the snap-happy.
Mr Minty says the 1988 bicentennial celebrations, like the torch relay, was the catalyst for unprecendented photographic activity by the public. But hey, given our Olympic-mania, that title is not unassailable. You see flashes photographing something that happens 200 or 300 feet away but the only thing the flash is going to light is 10 or 20 feet away. He suspects our willingness to photograph events such as the flame relay comes down to a timeless motivation. And then there's the seductive marketing pitch fed by photographic manufacturers.