> i would > think if a Moroccan or a resident of Fez were the photographer here, > the kind of pictures (and the kind of discussions you would get about > the pictures) would be totally different wouldn't it?
Yes, I completely agree. I live in the most popular tourist place in Britain and my photographs of the place are very different from the tourists' photos. This is to be expected. An analogy: when I went to the Kruger NP in South Africa I got very excited seeing lions and giraffes and water buffalo, whereas to my hosts they were rather humdrum - what excited them were things like dung beetles. The resident and the tourist perspective are entirely different. >i think you > (generic you) tend to see other places (especially culturally very > dissimilar places) as your culture has trained you to see them. yes indeed. We go in search of the exotic, the 'other'. We choose the places we go to because the stories and pictures we've already seen appeal to us and we go specifically to see certain things. Out eyes are therefore trained to see them; the trick is to try and remove the blinkers. Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Subash > Sent: 11 October 2008 07:48 > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: Daily life in Fez > > On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 1:15 AM, Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Incidentally, I hope I'm giving a balanced picture. I do > try to avoid > > taking photographs that only match my prejudices or > expectations, and > > I do try to show people as individuals living their lives, not as > > archetypes of orientalism or anything. Those are the traps that > > tourists often fall into with their photos, and I want to > avoid that, > > while admitting that I'm only there for a week so my > pictures can only > > be very superficial. > > Bob, i thought at first that i'll stay away from this discussion, > because when one talks about cultures and civilisations in such broad > brush strokes (mixed m?) things can get kind of thorny. > > i think those are honest enough admissions from your side as a > photographer. that said, about giving a balanced picture, i would > think if a Moroccan or a resident of Fez were the photographer here, > the kind of pictures (and the kind of discussions you would get about > the pictures) would be totally different wouldn't it? i think you > (generic you) tend to see other places (especially culturally very > dissimilar places) as your culture has trained you to see them. even > the ways in which you think you are different (leading to what you > would think are different perspectives) make sense within the terms of > your own culture doesn't it? guess what i am saying is one can't be > objective, and that is not necessarily a bad thing....i think the fact > that indiana jones (and nat geo at the other end of the same spectrum) > has already been mentioned in relation to your photos *is* kind of > revealing...i am sure the residents of Fez have seen the indiana jones > series. i am not so sure if they've ever thought of themselves as > characters living inside one... all in the spirit of a balanced > critique... ;-)) > > kind of obliquely related is the fact that, both when travelling > within India, and in my own city, i feel very squeamish photographing > people. like making museum pieces of someone else's life :-) at the > same time one tends also to get bored of doing the same kind of things > over and over. i am just thinking aloud here... > > i've been enjoying your photos, but right now i think there far are > too many to comment on individually. i'd love to look at the 'best of > fez' collection.... > > regards, subash > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly > above and follow the directions. > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
