Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Artsy-Fartsy Photo Tale

P-Doobie's discussion of arty photography reminds me of an encounter I had several years ago in Harvard Square on a clear summer day. I was wandering about when I noticed a young woman photographing the street life. I could tell she was a serious photographer; she had a huge, protruding camera and she was dressed entirely in black. In this case, the black outfit signaled that she, like a stage hand, was (by convention) invisible, and could safely point her lens wherever she pleased. I passed through the main intersection and was waiting at a curb for the walk signal, when I happened to look to my right and see this artistic photographer's lens pointing straight at me. Startled and embarrassed I turned away. My skin tingled and blood heated up. A stranger had taken my picture! My initial excitement quickly cooled as I recalled the kind of pictures artistic photographers produced. They didn't photograph people who looked pretty; they photographed people who looked interesting. How did I look interesting? When I first saw her she was shooting tattoo-covered street musicians and punked-out kids. It haunts me to this day.

3 comments:

MrBears said...

And that is the reason why you should never be caught without your Foster Grants.

Jerry

P-Doobie said...

We were at Indian Market several years ago, and a guy with a camera just walked up, aimed at my face, and took the picture. I wanted to smack him. He didn't ask permission, he didn't thank me afterwards.

Chuckbert said...

I get very nervous when a camera is aimed in my direction.

So far I haven't noticed people choosing me as their subject...I just happen to be in the direction of what they want to remember. I'm happy I'm not an interesting looking fellow.