Photography: A Social Activity
Today I was walking around my sister's neighborhood in Atlanta, taking pictures of interesting things on people's front lawns, sidewalks, houses, etc., all from the sidewalk and street. Sometimes it was an interesting shadow of a porch lamp against a brick wall. Sometimes it was the shape of someone's tree silhouetted against the sunset sky. In every case, I stood on the sidewalk or street and used a telephoto lens to get in close to my subject, if I needed to.
On more than one occasion, someone in the neighborhood would ask what I was doing, and I would say that I was taking pictures for fun, as that is exactly what I was doing. Photography is a hobby of mine, I do it because it's fun. Well, one woman in particular became rather irate when I gave her this response, and insisted that I needed to get permission from every homeowner before I took pictures of their homes, and that I should leave unless I planned to. She hinted that she would call the police if I didn't leave. Now, the legality of this is pretty clear. As long as I am standing on public property, such as the sidewalk or street, and as long as I do not profit from the pictures I take (and even in certain circumstances this requirement can be waived), I can take a picture of whatever I want. Well, some places may have statues against peeping toms and other sexually-perverse activities, but I certainly was not doing anything illegal.
Similar things have happened to me at various public places. At an outdoor shopping mall, I was only allowed to take pictures of one area, an outdoor fountain, and then only if I did not use a tripod. At my previous workplace, I was not allowed to take any pictures of anything on the building premises, even the lovely garden and fountain that they had cultivated in the courtyard. I have even heard that people with tripods are no longer allowed to walk onto the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!
It's rather sad that photography has gotten to this stage where it is essentially distrusted by non-photographers. Whether it's because people are afraid they will be robbed, because of terrorism concerns,because of the erosion of privacy, or because of commercial copyright and clearance issues (i.e., money), photographers are now looked upon with a suspicious eye. It is quite sad, really. I feel as if I need to defend myself simply because I am doing something I like to do in a perfectly legal manner.
And yet, as "social engineering" experiments performed by computer hackers has shown, the easiest way to get what you want is to simply sweet-talk people into it, disarm them by socializing with them. In my sister's neighborhood in Atlanta, I placated the woman's concerns by explaining that I was visiting my sister (whom this woman happened to know), and then talking with her about where I was from and the photography class I had just taken, and explaining to her what I was trying to accomplish with the specific shot that she had interrupted me on. We ended the conversation with a "Good night and happy holidays!", and she let me take my picture in peace. It's silly but true: people just need to be made comfortable around you, and then they will let you do almost anything.
This reminds me of the final project of one of my classmates in my photography class. She had taken five portrait-style photographs of people who lived in her cousin's neighborhood. For three of the five people she had taken photographs of, she did not know them beforehand. Yet in every single photograph, each person had a very relaxed, peaceful look on their face. Photographing one or two people in this fashion could be considered simple luck, but getting all five people to look this way is more than just luck, it is a reflection of the photographer who took the picture. The only way that this could have happened is if the photographer managed to get all five people into a state where they felt relaxed and peaceful around her and her camera. This is a skill that not all photographers have. I recall talking to a professional grip in Hollywood about what it took to become a director of photography, and he pointed out that the best DP's were not hired simply for their skills in photography, but more for their skill at handling movie stars, at getting the people who were being photographed into a state where they could be photographed well. This requires people skills, knowing how to put your subject at ease, how to convince them to stand, pose, and move as is required in order to get the shot.
I know several photographers who have said that they consider photography to be a rather antisocial hobby, something that they do by themselves, and for a long time I thought that way too. It's unfortunately part of my nature, I tend to be rather reclusive and antisocial. But more and more I'm seeing that a good photographer is hardly antisocial, and proactively seeks social contact while taking pictures, both for artistic reasons (such as putting a subject at ease) and for practical reasons (such as getting permission to shoot the subject in the first place).
On more than one occasion, someone in the neighborhood would ask what I was doing, and I would say that I was taking pictures for fun, as that is exactly what I was doing. Photography is a hobby of mine, I do it because it's fun. Well, one woman in particular became rather irate when I gave her this response, and insisted that I needed to get permission from every homeowner before I took pictures of their homes, and that I should leave unless I planned to. She hinted that she would call the police if I didn't leave. Now, the legality of this is pretty clear. As long as I am standing on public property, such as the sidewalk or street, and as long as I do not profit from the pictures I take (and even in certain circumstances this requirement can be waived), I can take a picture of whatever I want. Well, some places may have statues against peeping toms and other sexually-perverse activities, but I certainly was not doing anything illegal.
Similar things have happened to me at various public places. At an outdoor shopping mall, I was only allowed to take pictures of one area, an outdoor fountain, and then only if I did not use a tripod. At my previous workplace, I was not allowed to take any pictures of anything on the building premises, even the lovely garden and fountain that they had cultivated in the courtyard. I have even heard that people with tripods are no longer allowed to walk onto the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!
It's rather sad that photography has gotten to this stage where it is essentially distrusted by non-photographers. Whether it's because people are afraid they will be robbed, because of terrorism concerns,because of the erosion of privacy, or because of commercial copyright and clearance issues (i.e., money), photographers are now looked upon with a suspicious eye. It is quite sad, really. I feel as if I need to defend myself simply because I am doing something I like to do in a perfectly legal manner.
And yet, as "social engineering" experiments performed by computer hackers has shown, the easiest way to get what you want is to simply sweet-talk people into it, disarm them by socializing with them. In my sister's neighborhood in Atlanta, I placated the woman's concerns by explaining that I was visiting my sister (whom this woman happened to know), and then talking with her about where I was from and the photography class I had just taken, and explaining to her what I was trying to accomplish with the specific shot that she had interrupted me on. We ended the conversation with a "Good night and happy holidays!", and she let me take my picture in peace. It's silly but true: people just need to be made comfortable around you, and then they will let you do almost anything.
This reminds me of the final project of one of my classmates in my photography class. She had taken five portrait-style photographs of people who lived in her cousin's neighborhood. For three of the five people she had taken photographs of, she did not know them beforehand. Yet in every single photograph, each person had a very relaxed, peaceful look on their face. Photographing one or two people in this fashion could be considered simple luck, but getting all five people to look this way is more than just luck, it is a reflection of the photographer who took the picture. The only way that this could have happened is if the photographer managed to get all five people into a state where they felt relaxed and peaceful around her and her camera. This is a skill that not all photographers have. I recall talking to a professional grip in Hollywood about what it took to become a director of photography, and he pointed out that the best DP's were not hired simply for their skills in photography, but more for their skill at handling movie stars, at getting the people who were being photographed into a state where they could be photographed well. This requires people skills, knowing how to put your subject at ease, how to convince them to stand, pose, and move as is required in order to get the shot.
I know several photographers who have said that they consider photography to be a rather antisocial hobby, something that they do by themselves, and for a long time I thought that way too. It's unfortunately part of my nature, I tend to be rather reclusive and antisocial. But more and more I'm seeing that a good photographer is hardly antisocial, and proactively seeks social contact while taking pictures, both for artistic reasons (such as putting a subject at ease) and for practical reasons (such as getting permission to shoot the subject in the first place).
posted by Chris at 9:40 PM
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