Sunday Telegraph:loathing of cameras

[bmattock]

Sounds to me that you are advocating some sort of democracy there ,Bill. I think that the author (whose stuff I usually like) leans more to the Voltaire persuasion judging by his views in this matter.

I don't understand what you're saying.

Voltaire was an advocate for freedom of expression. This fellow is complaining that someone else is expressing himself 'too much'.

I have no idea what you mean by me advocating "some sort of democracy." I actually suggest that the author ought to stick to his knitting and let others take as many photographs as they feel appropriate.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This guy must have seen me at Disneyworld. Went through 17 rolls.

I'll have to post my Small, Small World tour.

What a great Tune.

 

[Michael Markey]

I stand corrected ,Bill. It was Wilde and his view on democracy. (Having a senior moment there)."The bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people"was his view.I always understood that to mean that he thought that there should be limits to feedom of expresion as indeed does Mr Farndale apparently.So do others as far as photography is concerned if subsequent posts are anything to go by.

 

[bmattock]

I stand corrected ,Bill. It was Wilde and his view on democracy. (Having a senior moment there)."The bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people"was his view.I always understood that to mean that he thought that there should be limits to feedom of expresion as indeed does Mr Farndale apparently.So do others as far as photography is concerned if subsequent posts are anything to go by.

Now I understand, thank you.

As photographers, who by some lights are artists and indeed claim that mantle, one might suspect that we'd be accepting of each other's attempts to make photographs. But no, we are not. We instead insist on strict adherence to a pack mentality that proclaims which lens, camera, and film to use, and heaps scorn on those who refuse to play follow the leader.

I do not know (nor do I care) what the author's proclivities might be with regard to photography, but I clearly understand that his article is not anti-photography, but anti-digital photography. This is common amongst the intelligentsia these days. It is very fashionable to dislike all things digital, and to invent a plethora of reasons why digital photography is straight from the devil's bottom.

Digital belongs to the hoi polloi, it seems, and is as such base and loathsome. The digital happy snapper is uncouth and uncivilized; why, he might as well be punching widows and orphans in the mouth and tipping over trash cans like football hooligans.

One grows tired of the endless anti-digital screeds, on RFF and elsewhere. I do take some comfort in the knowledge that this too shall pass - the Luddites are destined for Florida and Arizona, and I'll buy the best of their stuff for pennies on eBay, which I'll use to supplement my digital equipment as desired. Because although I am of the (tail end) of their generation, I managed to figure out 'Pong' and everything that came afterwards, and as such live in the modern world. I use the best film and digital have to offer me and do not insist that one must be bad because I cannot master it. It is well that the wrinklies are headed for the scrap heap, and the sooner the better. May their VCR's blink "12:00" gently in the twilight of their years.

 

[Ben B.]

I'm with Bill on this one. Let 'em click... but do yourself a favor people: print some and please EDIT before showing those slideshows to your friends! 😉

As far as I'm concerned, I think I need to press that shutter more and more often. So, as Peter said, I try to take a camera with me as much as I can.

On the other hand, I know I have this tendency to act like a spectator and holding a camera doesn't help 🙂 So, when I'm with my kids or friends, I try to put my camera down to live that moment with them. But then again, I love candids! :bang:

Paradoxical? Aren't we all?

When I grow up I want to be able to multitask... 😀

 

[bmattock]

I'm with Bill on this one. Let 'em click... but do yourself a favor people: print some and please EDIT before showing those slideshows to your friends! 😉

The problem with having poets as friends is that they insist on reading it to you...

As far as I'm concerned, I think I need to press that shutter more and more often. So, as Peter said, I try to take a camera with me as much as I can.

I also try to have a camera with me wherever I go, or at least nearby.

And I've done that (with large gaps of a decade or so here and there) since high school. In the military, I carried a Pentax Auto 110 in my cargo pocket everywhere we went. Many people complained that I was 'aways taking pictures', but when I showed around the prints, everyone wanted 'a copy for my mom'. Not because they were good, but because they were remembrances in time.

On the other hand, I know I have this tendency to act like a spectator and holding a camera doesn't help 🙂 So, when I'm with my kids or friends, I try to put my camera down to live that moment with them. But then again, I love candids! :bang:

From time to time, I suggest to my wife that we go somewhere and do something 'as spectators' and I leave the camera behind. She's very tolerant of me whether I bring a camera or not, though.

Paradoxical? Aren't we all?

I certainly hope so!

When I grow up I want to be able to multitask... 😀

I just want not to grow up.

 

[Michael Markey]

Bill, You really should take this show on the road. I`ll be your manager. How does 10% sound. But what would we call it ?

 

[Ben B.]

Woah, multiquote... I really got to learn how to do that! For now, cut and paste will do.

The problem with having poets as friends is that they insist on reading it to you...

😀 I KNOW some of my friends think I'm a "poet". But I don't force them... They can go and see on the Internet.

Many people complained that I was 'aways taking pictures', but when I showed around the prints, everyone wanted 'a copy for my mom'. Not because they were good, but because they were remembrances in time.

Yep, same here. Except mine are actually good... 😉

From time to time, I suggest to my wife that we go somewhere and do something 'as spectators' and I leave the camera behind. She's very tolerant of me whether I bring a camera or not, though.

😀 Should try that.

I certainly hope so!

Yes, but that confuses a lot of people who don't like to be confused. There's nothing like predictability and certainty. "Hey, where's your camera?" 😉

 

[Tuolumne]

One of the things I love about still photography is that it allows me to both capture an image for review but doesn't take all my time away from experiencing the moment, the way video does. I really dislike taking video. For me, video interferes with my experience of the actual event, while still photography enhances it by compelling me to look and see in a concentrated way.

I second this. Photography is a way of experiencing the world. That said, it can be overdone. But there are lots of ways to be rude in public, including talking on the mobile whilst in the cable car, which is far worse.

/T

 

[Silva Lining]

Well, as Satre said,

'L'enfer, c'est les autres'

It's not known whether he was in a cable car or in the vacinitiy of a photogapher at the time.

When I first read the article, I thought the guy was a pompous arse (ass)....but, Ya know, sometimes journalists get stuck for a piece, but they gotta pay the rent like everyone else, so we end up with a tirade of ineptitude such as this article.

If photography is a mental illness, then I'm as mad as a sack of otters... 🙂