A timely spectacle! J
Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 26, 2016, at 7:08 AM, Igor PDML-StR <pdml...@komkon.org> wrote: > > > > This morning someone sent me a link to a brief blogpost on Cnet, which got me > (re)evaluating - (re)thinking certain aspects of photography in our lives. > The photo was of a crowd in front of a famous politician waving at them, > while most people turned their backs and taking selfies of themselves with > the famous people being the background. > (The link is below, but first the thoughts.) > > Over many years of taking photographs, sometimes as tourist (i.e. in very > touristic places, etc.), - I've been offered by others (friends, relatives, > bystanders) to take a picture of _me_. ... or rather of _me__being__there_. > Not that I was against those (and sometimes I did want some picture, > especially with friends or family), but I was not particularly ego to get > those. I wanted to take some interesting (at least to me) of the views from > that place. > One of the repeated questions/comments I had (usually not from close friends > or relatives who already knew what I am after, but from more distant > friends): "Why do you need those? - See there, they sell cards with this view > already printed." > > Why was/am I taking those photos? > 1. I enjoy _taking_ them and > 2. I enjoy looking at them later, as they remind me of good time I had there. > And often, aftre many years, I remember the photos I've taken even without > looking at them: they are a connection for that place, person, event. ... > even though I might not be in those pictures myself. > (As an aside, - I appreciate the fact of being in some of those photos more > now, as my daughter is growing up, - so, that she can see her dad in those > photos too.) > > Now, getting back to the conclusion quoted in the Subject of this message. > Yes, selfie is the fad du jour [is that tautology?]. > To this date, most of the selfies I've taken are with my SLR (with a tripod > or a mirror help). But I don't want to judge those people who enjoy selfies: > to each of his/her own. And to some extent, those people aren't that much > different from those stranger on the street who are ego to pose for you even > though they are never going to see that photo. (This was a very frequent > situation with kid groups in Japan.) > > > My understanding of the said blogpost is that someone is trying to question > of how polite it is to take a selfie with a famous person (and hence turning > one's behind to her/him) as opposed to piercing with your eyes and listening. > > That brought to memories yet another story. Long time ago, one famous Russian > poet wrote a song that was "thinking" about a family being photographed in > front of the monument to the famous Russian poet Alexandr Pushkin. The idea > was based on the juxtaposition of the timelessness and greatness of someone > whose fame survived the test of centuries, and "todayliness" of the concerns > and that-minute problems of that family. I remember that a friend was > thinking that the author was criticizing the family, and that that type of > photo was awkward or even ridiculous due to the contrast. While I understand > that point of view (and I personally do not like taking photographs of people > (and myself) specifically with someone's _personal_ monument), I never felt > comfortable with that criticism. And I've always thought that the song's > author was just bringing up the contrast as a way to highlight the > simultaneous distance and closeness of the great and small, old and > contemporary, timeless and tra nsient. > > But back to today's photo, here is what I am curious to hear from you, deal > PDMLers: > As photographers with different preferences, views and reasons to take > photographs, what do you think about what is shown in the photograph > discussed in that blogpost? > (Please, let's not digress into a political debate about the specific > politician, so, let's keep the political comments on mute.) > > Here is the blogpost in question: https://goo.gl/VC5fU3 . > > Thanks in advance to all who will respond. > > Igor > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > 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 PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
