Whoooooho. Guess who's breaking in the journal. That's right. ME. I don't know too many people who will read this...I think there are just two, the ones who...watch me...But here it goes.
(There is a point to all this...you just have to get to it)
I was watching tv, late this morning/night. There was some show on about a girl (LIFE network) who was with her friends or something. The whole time, this girl had been talking about this guy model she absolutely loved, and I think she was a model too, or she wanted to be. Anyway, somehow, they GOT this guy that she liked so much to come and do a photo shoot with her. She was really shy and nervous around him, which leads me to believe  that she wasn't like a professional model, but was making her way towards that point, or something. Anyway, so she was kind of giggly and shocked and whatnot, but the photographer got all like...."Ok, hug him" (she was in her underwear...he was topless) "now bite his ear." And she'd DO all this stuff, EVEN though minutes before she'd been all...shy and whatnot. This brought me to an inevitable conclusion.

People will do almost ANYTHING a photographer tells them to. Think about it. Let's say you're in a photo with some friends, but you're standing next to someone you don't like too much. The photographer tells you to put your arm around that person, so you do it. Why?

Some people would argue that you do it because you don't want to draw attention to the fact that you don't want to touch that person. But I disagree.

Think about it. When you're in a photo, you do what you're told to do. If the photographer says "Step to the left," you do it. If he tells you "Move closer together," you do it. Sure, we do it because we want to form a more "perfect" picture. You want things to look right, so you trust in the photographer's judgement, and obey their commands.

This makes the role of subject-photographer essentially one of a trust. In an artistic photo where a subject doesn't understand what the photographer is looking for, they do what he tells them, even if it doesn't quite make sense to them, because they assume it is what he is looking for. Depending on the person, they will go only so far before they feel that nothing is being accomplished, or that they are being misused in some way. At this point, they begin to question the photographer's motivation.

In a social photo, like that of a group of friends standing together, those in the picture assume the photographer is making decisions that are logical and conductive to the best photo possible. If he tells them to stand one way or another, they follow his instructions. This makes the artistic photo and the social photo alike in their relationship between subject and photographer, but subtly different, nonetheless.

But this sort of thing goes BEYOND just moving back and forth. People will do whatever, get pretty damn friendly, before they start to question what the photographer is telling them.

The point at which a subject begins to wonder as to the motives of a photographer depends on how devoted or interested they are in the photo itself. Take an example. A group of friends are in a field having a picture taken. One person in the group LOVES having their picture taken, while another hates it. The person taking the picture is an amateur photographer, and wants the photo to look perfect, so he tells the people to move back and forth, side to side, while he tries to find the perfect spot to take the picture. Which friend is more likely to complain first, the one who loves having their picture taken, or the one who hates it? The answer is, of course, the one who hates it. The friend who loves having their picture taken wants the photo to look its best, and is willing to be moved about to accomplish said goal. The friend who hates having his picture taken isn't devoted to the picture at all, and wants it over with as soon as possible.

People assume that whoever is behind a camera is giving them directions that are in their best interest.When you point a camera at someone, they do what you tell them. In that respect, a camera is much like a gun. When you point a gun at someone, they do what what you tell them as well. The key difference therein is that a camera allows you to capture the passage of time, whereas a gun allows you to interfere with it.

In conclusion, a camera is an object of great power, as much as a gun or a sword; as much as a crown or a sceptre. Use your cameras wisely artists; for like a gun, it can be a tool to accomplish good or evil.


[If you liked this, spread the word to other dArtists please...I'm  not in the mood to take more pictures right now.]