The fantastic thing about slow news weeks is that I get to be incredibly obscure with my blog topic choices, which can mean only one thing: exploring the philosophy of the everyday. You may have seen this story on the PopSci front page that talks about the fantastic camera line-up that was recently revealed. As exciting as this news is for camera enthusiasts, it got me thinking about the delicate nature of photographs.
I’ve recently spent time with my parents and, once a wedding is thrown into the mix, you can bet your cotton socks that there will be a request for a photograph or 300 thrown at me. Naturally, there was. As something of a self-professed pseudo-celebrity, I like to treat any opportunity in front of the lens as a chance to ‘photo bomb’; even if I’m the only one in the picture. This usually manifests as an overly cheesy grin, some poor hapless fellow photgraphee being adorned with crude finger bunny ears or even the deliberate faux pas of an unzipped fly (in a family friendly kind of way).
I’ve always found the concept of randomly producing an impromptu natural smile rather paradoxical. The sheer fact that someone wants me to smile naturally is not only an oxymoron, it also kicks up every rebellious part of me that wants to not do that.
But then, I’m not a fan of candid photography either. Like communism, I think that candid photography works on paper but once in practice, it doesn’t work. As soon as someone is aware that there’s some paparazzi-esque photographer snooping around getting ‘real’ shots, the illusion is shattered and people (myself included) tend to turn into caricatures of themselves; instantly forgetting how to be natural because we seemingly think about it too hard.
Of all the beautiful smiles I recall having seen in my life, not one of them is a memory of a photograph; they’re all memories of real-life folk smiling in real-life ways in real-life situations. For that sort of natural response and naturalness one has to forget who they are and what they’re doing in order to be comfortable enough to remain natural: ironic, really.
I really love the idea of photography that can somehow capture natural moments in time, I just don’t believe it’s possible once people are aware they’re being photographed. We’re all actors when put in front of the camera and we don’t seem to be very good at faking who we really are.
What do you think?
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Well clearly the solution is to have creepers following you around and photographing you without you being aware… right?
I like to think i have some great candid shots, i like to call my photography “pictures of life”.
I have some great shots of some very nice natural looking images even if posed and setup. In my experience it’s about knowing that person well enough for them too look beyond the lens and into your eye through the viewfinder. Rare and diffcult but definately possible
Loved the article though…:)