A lot has happened since my last post.
Let's start with Libya. Or Egypt. Or Iran. Or Tunisia. As much as it is tiring to hear about the power struggling and war in the middle east and Africa, we can't help but wanting to know more about it everyday. It is hard to not take notice and even harder to do so when a few friends and acquaintances are stuck in the countries affected. Lucky for some, big oil companies are acting fast on getting their workers out of the countries. Others would have to wait. A good friend managed to fly out of Bahrain back to Malaysia after only a few hours of waiting and having only told a few hours before about the decision to get her out of the country for her own safety. Bahrain was declared state of emergency for three months a few hours earlier when she was online chatting with me.
And then the Japan earthquakes and tsunami strike before the world could recover from the quakes that hit New Zealand. The eastern side of the globe was already suffering from post tropical cyclone in Australia a few months earlier. Heart breaking clips emerge every few days on YouTube and what was used to be a very entertaining website has now turned into a very depressing source of unseen footage. And now you have to read my depressing opening for a post in this blog. But really, can you at least try to imagine how do countries recover from war and natural disaster, especially at the scale they have been at these recent months?
Maybe we should save the commiseration for some other time (and other blog).
It is now officially spring in the UK. Scotland (or Aberdeen in particular) has had a hint of it a few weeks ago for a couple of weeks. Sunny spell is everywhere now along the coast of Aberdeenshire and where I live. Tourists are back flocking Crovie and taking up parking spaces for the people who actually live here. Photographers (or people who own big fancy cameras) are taking pictures everywhere around the village. And I don't like having strangers pointing their big lenses towards and deliberately doing so without even asking politely. Subtlety and manners, anyone?
This brings us to the big question that I have meant to ask about photography: when do we know we are not invading privacy when taking photos?
A few months ago, while Jamie and I were working on the shed behind our house, a lady passed by and started asking questions about what we were doing, what we do for a living and how long we have been living there for. She introduced herself as coming from the city (of Aberdeen?) and told us how beautiful Crovie is. I would like to think that I am generally a friendly person but I supposed I was a bit uneasy when I saw that she was holding a camera in her hands. True enough, after answering all her questions, she asked if she could take our photos for her photography class. We really should have said no but I still don't know why we didn't. In that quick few seconds between saying 'yes' and her clicking the camera, I was dreading thinking how many people are there in her photography class and where is the photo going to and if it's going to be published, will the caption read 'The People of Crovie'? Not that I mind - in fact I am a very proud local but a little bit I felt like I was a targeted 'interesting' subject like how animals are in the zoo. Or is that a little bit too dramatic for a description?
Is it really a personal choice of feelings to be taken photos of by strangers? How do some people mind when others don't when put in the same situation? A journalist would have introduced himself and the newspaper or magazine he is representing before he asked if he could take a photo. And maybe by knowing where the photo would be published, I supposed it helps a bit compared to what we had with the lady. I still wished to have said no to her in the nicest way.
I try not to take photos of people when they are aware of it. In the case that they are, I would make sure that they are happy or would not mind to have the photos taken. So does that mean that it is acceptable if the photos taken are not embarassing?
In Asia, street photography is relatively easy and fun because as soon as people see a big lense pointing at them, they flash a friendly smile or make a peace sign. Kids on the street are the best. They make faces and pose for you. When I was in Mabul last October, I saw two kids on a boat and thought of a photo opportunity. They saw me and waved. I missed it and asked them if they could do it again and they happily did.
Last weekend, I saw another tourist standing between two houses, ready with his huge DSLR. And almost hiding even. An older villager walked passed him and we could hear the shutter clicked. As Jamie and I walked closer, the guy lifted his camera again and pointed his lense to follow our movement. He was literally only two meters away. As we got closer and closer, I deliberately looked away and then heard the same shutter clicked. The guy had our photos taken in front of us without asking if it was OK for him to do so first.
After walking passed him, Jamie and I both expressed how uncomfortable we felt - not to him but to each other. Should we have raised our hands and cover our faces from him? Should we have gone to him and said 'could you please not take our photos'?. Should we have stopped and stand for a pose and go along with it? Or should we just brush this aside because people do it everyday, every where anyway? After all, people are free to take photos of what they want and how they want it, no? The photos might just end up in a folder tucked in another folder in their laptops. But what if they are going to be uploaded on Facebook or Flicker for people to look at?
So, how should we really do it then? Is sitting and pretending that you're just holding your camera while it silently clicks, the same as doing it openly? Or should we always ask to avoid the invasion of privacy even when not planning on putting the photos on prints and Internet?
Let's start with Libya. Or Egypt. Or Iran. Or Tunisia. As much as it is tiring to hear about the power struggling and war in the middle east and Africa, we can't help but wanting to know more about it everyday. It is hard to not take notice and even harder to do so when a few friends and acquaintances are stuck in the countries affected. Lucky for some, big oil companies are acting fast on getting their workers out of the countries. Others would have to wait. A good friend managed to fly out of Bahrain back to Malaysia after only a few hours of waiting and having only told a few hours before about the decision to get her out of the country for her own safety. Bahrain was declared state of emergency for three months a few hours earlier when she was online chatting with me.
And then the Japan earthquakes and tsunami strike before the world could recover from the quakes that hit New Zealand. The eastern side of the globe was already suffering from post tropical cyclone in Australia a few months earlier. Heart breaking clips emerge every few days on YouTube and what was used to be a very entertaining website has now turned into a very depressing source of unseen footage. And now you have to read my depressing opening for a post in this blog. But really, can you at least try to imagine how do countries recover from war and natural disaster, especially at the scale they have been at these recent months?
Maybe we should save the commiseration for some other time (and other blog).
It is now officially spring in the UK. Scotland (or Aberdeen in particular) has had a hint of it a few weeks ago for a couple of weeks. Sunny spell is everywhere now along the coast of Aberdeenshire and where I live. Tourists are back flocking Crovie and taking up parking spaces for the people who actually live here. Photographers (or people who own big fancy cameras) are taking pictures everywhere around the village. And I don't like having strangers pointing their big lenses towards and deliberately doing so without even asking politely. Subtlety and manners, anyone?
This brings us to the big question that I have meant to ask about photography: when do we know we are not invading privacy when taking photos?
A few months ago, while Jamie and I were working on the shed behind our house, a lady passed by and started asking questions about what we were doing, what we do for a living and how long we have been living there for. She introduced herself as coming from the city (of Aberdeen?) and told us how beautiful Crovie is. I would like to think that I am generally a friendly person but I supposed I was a bit uneasy when I saw that she was holding a camera in her hands. True enough, after answering all her questions, she asked if she could take our photos for her photography class. We really should have said no but I still don't know why we didn't. In that quick few seconds between saying 'yes' and her clicking the camera, I was dreading thinking how many people are there in her photography class and where is the photo going to and if it's going to be published, will the caption read 'The People of Crovie'? Not that I mind - in fact I am a very proud local but a little bit I felt like I was a targeted 'interesting' subject like how animals are in the zoo. Or is that a little bit too dramatic for a description?
Is it really a personal choice of feelings to be taken photos of by strangers? How do some people mind when others don't when put in the same situation? A journalist would have introduced himself and the newspaper or magazine he is representing before he asked if he could take a photo. And maybe by knowing where the photo would be published, I supposed it helps a bit compared to what we had with the lady. I still wished to have said no to her in the nicest way.
I try not to take photos of people when they are aware of it. In the case that they are, I would make sure that they are happy or would not mind to have the photos taken. So does that mean that it is acceptable if the photos taken are not embarassing?
In Asia, street photography is relatively easy and fun because as soon as people see a big lense pointing at them, they flash a friendly smile or make a peace sign. Kids on the street are the best. They make faces and pose for you. When I was in Mabul last October, I saw two kids on a boat and thought of a photo opportunity. They saw me and waved. I missed it and asked them if they could do it again and they happily did.
Last weekend, I saw another tourist standing between two houses, ready with his huge DSLR. And almost hiding even. An older villager walked passed him and we could hear the shutter clicked. As Jamie and I walked closer, the guy lifted his camera again and pointed his lense to follow our movement. He was literally only two meters away. As we got closer and closer, I deliberately looked away and then heard the same shutter clicked. The guy had our photos taken in front of us without asking if it was OK for him to do so first.
After walking passed him, Jamie and I both expressed how uncomfortable we felt - not to him but to each other. Should we have raised our hands and cover our faces from him? Should we have gone to him and said 'could you please not take our photos'?. Should we have stopped and stand for a pose and go along with it? Or should we just brush this aside because people do it everyday, every where anyway? After all, people are free to take photos of what they want and how they want it, no? The photos might just end up in a folder tucked in another folder in their laptops. But what if they are going to be uploaded on Facebook or Flicker for people to look at?
So, how should we really do it then? Is sitting and pretending that you're just holding your camera while it silently clicks, the same as doing it openly? Or should we always ask to avoid the invasion of privacy even when not planning on putting the photos on prints and Internet?
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