On Photography

Photography for me is an enjoyable hobby, although admittedly I do take it a little too far sometimes. It is a strange art form, maybe that is why I enjoy.

As an art form, it takes a strange place. A conceptual one as most of the best photos are, above anything else, interesting but follow certain mathematical and geometric rules or patterns. Much like artists such as Picasso or Mondriaan. I'm not really sure surreal Dali-esque photography works quite so well. One of his most famous paintings, 'The Persistence of Memory' works as a painting as like the oils he used, memory and time are fluid and not frozen onto a film or memory card.

However, this is not what I have come here to discuss, as interesting as it might be. It is the ethics of candid street photography that have been a little problematic. Take this discussion in the Flickr: Stockport group on the tactics of Bruce Gilden. It was a discussion with Air Adam that got me thinking.

The reaction against Gilden's style was that it invaded people's private space, that people were concerned that it might be a distraction for a robbery. Lets tackle the first issue. The invasion of personal space is a fair comment, in that, I would feel a strange letting a complete stranger in that close might be an affront. Well, we do give all sorts of personal information out regardless of who may or may not see it, for motives that we don't truly know on the grounds of trust. Also, the amount of CCTV arguably makes the argument of privacy a little absurd. For example, in town centres virtually every step I take will be watched on the grounds of security, used by the police and private firms. However, this is not always liked, but accepted as a part of modern life. As well, Gilden is trying to capture something that cannot be captured with telephoto lenses, ie, character and individuality. To deal with the second point, that of it being a distraction for something more sinister. Yes, it could be used as a distraction, but so could a street performance like a busker, a juggler and pickpocketing could happen on the tube. However, my photo could lead to an arrest of something like that. My advice, be careful.

I personally hope he does not flash someone epileptic.