Sunday 2 June 2013

Open letter to anyone with a camera

Dear photographers,

I understand why you take pictures. You want to record a particular moment. You want to show your friends what a wonderful time you have had. You want to look at them, when the skies are grey, and remember the time when ... Some of you will be skilled enough to use your images in innovative ways, so they will grow a meaning beyond that initial capture of a moment.

But

Just because you can see something does not mean you have to take a picture of it. Nor does the urgency of your photographic need take any priority over the rights of someone who just wants to see. You do not have the right to step on my toes, shove your long lens up my nose, stand in front of me, or push me out of the way.

Just because you can see something does not mean you have to take a picture of it. Notices that say 'no photographs' mean what they say. They apply to everyone. They do not mean that you can have a quick snap and hope no one is looking, or pretend that the notice wasn't there last time you looked. Nor can you pretend that taking a picture on your phone doesn't really count.

Just because you can see something does not mean you have to take a picture of it. Especially in art galleries. These artists have slaved over a tired easel so you can stand and stare. And maybe (dare I suggest) if you took time to stand and stare you may be enriched in a way that cannot compare with gawping at your photos of these pictures.

Just because you can see something does not mean you have to take a picture of it. Maybe, for one day only, leave your camera behind. Hide it in your underwear. Yes, you may feel naked. But stop; close your eyes; listen. Hear the birds sing, water dripping, a child playing. Notice the smell of jasmine. And then open your eyes and look. It's an astonishing world - all the more astonishing experienced first hand and not always through the lens of a camera.

18 comments:

  1. Very well said! Especially the point about art galleries.

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    1. Thanks, Emma. Might just be you and I against the world!

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  2. Hi, Jo. This is a hard one for me as I live with a photographer who would indeed feel naked without his camera. He is very very wary of intruding on people's privacy, but he has been known to defy the 'no photographs' signs in docklands and other areas that used to be free access but are all fenced off these days. However, he sees things in ways that most people don't and gives others a view of their own world and environment that often surprises and delights them. I'm afraid he would not subscribe to your last point - unless he had already taken a photo of it :-)

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    1. My husband was also a photographer. So I really do understand the drive to take pictures - and the wonderful images that can result. Like your partner, he saw things differently and surprised me over and over with his pictures.

      But most people are simply playing with their cameras - they are simply recording where they are without looking. Those are the people I'm grumbling about!

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    2. So we have more than just writing and a spirit of adventure in common :-) I do agree about the snappers though. One of my hobbies is seeing photos without taking them :-)

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  3. I'm with Val on this one.

    I'd like to add a point. Just because you want to see doesn't give you the right to step in front of me while I'm lining up my shot!

    Courtesy on both sides would make the world a happier place.

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    1. Thanks, AJ. My grumble - sometimes it feels as if people assume that their taking photos takes priority over everything else. (And I do get why people take pictures - see my comment to Val.

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  6. I write in conjunction with my photographs. I always ask if it is okay to use my camera as I think it is rude not to ask- just the way I was brought up. Notebook and camera can add up to heavy baggage and sometimes it is a hindrance. I do like to use the camera to snap the moments and in my head I have stored an emotion with them that will later be evoked by the image and then I can work on the correct words to use.

    You are quite right about Art Galleries, you can always buy the postcard or the guide book. It is better to stand and stare. My biggest problem is that some galleries allow too many people in so that you fell you are fighting for a view rather than thinking about the composition.

    A thoughtful piece of writing- Thank you.

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    1. Thank you - I generally carry both notebook and little camera - but thoughtless snapping without looking, that's what get's up my nose!

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  10. I do take photos but always wait until people move away before I snap and don't think I've upset anyone. I take photos of views or subjects once I have looked at them and appreciated them and think I would like to share them or keep a memory or use it in a blog post.I think you do that too Jo or else we wouldn't have had those lovely photos of Venice.
    I agree that some people can be a pest.

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    1. I, too, take pictures - as you know. But I look at things first, not with a view to grabbing my camera, but simply to look. It's people who snap away and never see anything - those are the ones that get up my nose!

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