This is Frankie. He just got a new camera. A Hasselblad Xpan. The new personal photo project he has set for himself is to photograph young kids at the pool. It can't get much tougher than that can it? What has been some of the world's toughest photo assignments?
Lol poor Frankie. For me, Bikie funeral at Gallipoli mosque was pretty tough. I enjoy most assignments except stuff I have no interest in. While working for the paper, I love the creative freedom during community events but I hate photographing politicians or boring indoor presentations..
ReplyDeleteAlso my jobs are probably piss easy compared to those assignments which have won world press awards this year. Switching off emotionally an just photographing must take it's toll
ReplyDeleteParents and pool staff are giving Frankie hell while he is trying to photograph kids at the pool. When I think of tough assignments my thoughts turn to the photographs taken by astronauts while they are on the moon. How do they change film in those bulky space suites? Maybe it really was all done in a Hollywood studio.
ReplyDeleteThings like this are tough because they bring up important issues of consent and exploitation, among other things. These things warrant discussion. The photographer's intent may not even be important in this discussion.
ReplyDeleteMore and more I learn in my life, especially as a person loving photography - and those around me, is that consent is very important. I have experienced (and been part of) some of the many power imbalances that exist in society, which are often used to exploit others for personal gain - these imbalances often come up in photography. One would consider that photographing stranger's children would hopefully bring both of these issues to the forefront of one's considerations in such a project.
I think that it is important that such a project might be tough and that people might give him 'hell' about it. If it was easy, and not questioned, I would be worried.
Before this gets out of hand I have to come to Frankie's defence and say all his pictures at the pool were taken with the upmost care and decency. They were photographed at a fair distance. No child is clearly identifiable. Fankie is a parent, his own child was at the pool. He is unlike to continue with the project because of the negative reactions.
ReplyDeleteConsent is an interesting topic for discussion and there are projects were consent should morally be sort. There are also situations where it's impossible to sort consent and the photographer has to make the difficult decision to record the event even if making such a photograph might put his/her life in danger.
By 'upmost [sic] care and decency' do you mean to ask for the consent of the parents of the children?
DeleteI'm surprised Garry - 'Before this gets out of hand' I feel is a somewhat invalidating response that stifles important discussion rather than fosters it.
I'm not trying to say that what Frankie was doing was wrong, or bad, but rather that it is important that he is confronted with the responsibilities that he has to those around him when he is choosing to take those photographs. People have a right to feel comfortable in a public space - he might be interfering with that, and in not such a small way, and needs to acknowledge and accept responsibility for how choosing to shoot those photographs might affect others. Children - who are not equipped with the skills to fully understand how their image may be taken and used, nor are they necessarily equipped with the social skills to ask or confront a stranger to ask them not to take their photo - are easily exploited - the photographer has the the power in this situation - and with great power, comes great responsibility.
Asking permission may be difficult, sometimes very difficult, but can allay fears and mistrust of the photographer and ultimately can make for a positive and rewarding experience for both photographer and subject.
We cannot divorce our own actions from our responsibilities. Holding a camera tends to give one a feeling of entitlement - I believe that holding a camera does not give me a right or entitlement to photograph whomever I please without responsibility, no more than having the use of my hands would give me a right to touch anyone I please in the street.
You raise some valid points. In what situations would you feel confortable taking a photograph of a person without asking?
DeleteOr do you feel photographers must always ask for permission?
Has this responsibility enhanced or hindered your photography?
At a secondhand market stall, I asked a stall holder if i could photograph his arrangement of goods. He said 'NO', and asked me how much I would pay him to photograph his stall. I said I didn't want to pay to take a photograph. He said I was making money from taking the photograph and that I should pay. I said I'm not making any money from taking these photographs. He insisted I was making money from it...
ReplyDeleteWell this is an ongoing personal project .... I guess if there was the chance of my publishing or selling the photograph I would be making money. So is he right?
At another stall, I asked if i could photograph an antique toy... the stall holder asked if it was for commercial purpose. I told him it was fro a documentary project... he gave permission.
I suppose once an image is published and seen by the public it's use and exploitation is beyond the photographer's intent. Say if the photograph of the toy was published and a toy manufacturer saw and decided to copy/replicate it... and make money from it ... my intent was not commercial ... but a commercial gain has come about from the object being photographed and made public.
I question... there are subjects/objects whereby photographing it and publishing it creates a scrutiny/gives it an attention whereby the subject is 'killed' compared to if it was unseen and left to flourish.
I had a similar experience at a second hand market stall. The stall holder were insisting that I could make millions of dollars from photographing his goods. I was so taken back by his ludicrous suggestion, I didn't have the foresight to suggest to him that he should swap careers. Ask the stall holders to show you proof that a photo his market stall has made anyone money.
DeleteThere's no way of predicting what will happen to a photograph. If we follow the stall holders' logic, then they should be back paying the original manufactures of the good they are re-selling regardless of who they purchased the good from, because they are now making money from the original makers.
Perhaps you need to take a different approach. Suggest to them that photos of their store may gain them some publicity.