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What does 'snapping away' mean here?
Alan, through his website artbusiness.com, attends almost every art opening that goes down in San Francisco. Like 10 in one night, he's zipping across town to cover everything that's opening. From the greatest shows to the shittest, he's there snapping away. He's not human. We have no idea he does it. How does he stomach it all? We asked.
In this case, "snapping away" almost certainly means he was taking pictures of the art. "Snapping" refers to the click of an analog camera, and is the onomatopoeia from which Snapchat got its name.
Note that 'away' can act as an intensifier for many verbs.
away adverb (CONTINUOUSLY) C2 continuously or repeatedly, or in a busy way:
I was still writing away when the exam finished.
Chris has been working away in the garden all day.
We were chatting away at the back and didn't hear what he said.
More examples
She was singing away to herself as she worked.
They were hammering away at the door.
They were just chatting away while the fire raged around them.
