MakingImages

New to makingimages.co.uk is Doodle Blog.

Paul Butzi, in his article The photos not to take discusses his personal code when it comes to taking photographs:

Beyond the obvious trespass issues, though, there are other situations where I won’t open the shutter. If I’m setting up, and the property owner comes out and asks me to stop, I stop. I stop even if I’m on a public right of way, and have every legal right to be where I am and photograph whatever I can see. I don’t want the people who live where I’m photographing to feel that I’m an intruder, or that I’m a threat. Will I talk with them, explain what I’m doing, and try to persuade them to let me photograph? Sure – I won’t push hard, but I’ll give it a shot if I can keep it friendly. But while I’m being charming and persuasive, I put away the camera and the tripod, to make it clear that I’ve stopped. And, in the end, if they don’t change their mind, that’s it. It’s their choice. If they don’t want me to take the photograph, I don’t want to take it.

Paul also writes that …the fact that we have a legal right to do something doesn’t mean that it’s right to go ahead and do it… and Is this what we’ve come to – that we’re so intent on making our art that we’ll engage in deception to get the photo?

Compare and contrast to this report on the Leica M8 in Marrakech by, I’m assuming, Michael Reichmann:

Balancing not wanting to give offense, and yet responding to some of the most exotic street photography opportunities imaginable, leads to developing a few strategies. For example, I would sometimes ask my wife to pose as if I was taking her picture, while I was actually photographing the people behind her. Even then, it was not uncommon for people to turn away or cover their faces.

…

Ones ability to effectively do street photography demands appropriate technique. This means a small camera, held discretely in one hand. No long lenses, no motor drives or large battery grips, and definitely no flash in the souks.

See an opportunity, position yourself, lift the camera to the eye, frame and shoot. Camera down before anyone has time to notice, or to object. If they object after the fact, smile an apology, and move on. It works.

I’m not going to fall into the trap of making a moral judgement about these differing views. Both Paul and Michael are serious photographers and both go to great lengths to create their images but both have defined different boundaries within which they are prepared to work, as I guess we all do.

So what’s my point? My point is that photography, the kinds of images that we produce, say a great deal about the limits we put on ourselves and these limits are a reflection of our own way of living our lives. A body of work represents more than just the subjects, it represents the way the photographer looks at the world (visually) and also the way the photographer fits into that world.

Absolutely nothing new there, it was just that I was struck by the contrast of the sentiments within the two articles. Probably had something to do with me reading them one after the other.

Well, that’s nice. Alamy have started up their own blog.

I was feeling a little sheepish all day yesterday as I stumbled upon their blog before the official release and announced it in the AlamyPro Yahoo group while also leaving a comment on the blog (first one, yay, though it was deleted when the blog went ‘live’). I quickly received a phone call from Alamy who were wondering how I had found out about it given that it was unreleased and unannounced. “I just followed the link on your web site”, I said. Ooops.

Anyhow, it’s now been officially announced and one of the things I expected to happen has happened. The comment section contains a fair sprinkling of questions that are entirely unrelated to the posting and which would better be directed at member services by email. But there you go, that’s people for you.

Alamy, I think, are going to have some community management issues. There’s only one way really to maintain a high level of information to noise in the comments and that’s to be pretty stringent with comment moderation. Either turn moderation on, which I hate in a community but which is sometimes necessary, or be pretty determined with the delete function. With so many contributing photographers it’s going to be a handful.

This article on the Online Photographer is a sublime example of how a small, but significant decision regarding composition can change everything.

The fear of heights is a common context. The photographer was fully aware of this and the resulting photographs are a triumph in the presentation of that context.

Having said that, sheesh, the guy with the tripod is a loony.

Ever wanted to know how to become an Ansel Adams? Apparently The Telegraph has the answer.