Sunsets, disasters, dinners: we now record them all with our phones. But what is that doing to our souls? | Phoebe Greenwood

As a war correspondent, I worked with photographers who said the camera was a buffer between them and reality.

It is much the same now as we snap and scroll I was sitting on a rooftop in Athens at sunset looking up at Filopappou hill.

Athens in August is burning hot .

Not so much hotter than London or Paris any more, but the sort of hot that makes it foolish to step out into sunlight before 6pm.

Emerging from the air conditioning at dusk, I saw a dense line of silhouettes on the ridge above me.

Almost every one of these shadows had its arm raised, holding a cameraphone towards the sunset.

Of all the pretty hills in the Greek capital, Filopappou arguably has the best view.

The Acropolis stands directly to its north.

To its south, where I sat, the city sprawls out towards the sea and a dark horizon of islands – Aegina, Salamina, Agistri.

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