RE: [Leica] and personal space....

[Mark Cohen <markc@creativephoto.com>]

I prefer Emmanuel Kant's maxim - the categorical imperative. Testing for
universalizability....

* Always act in such a way that you can will that the maxim behind your
action can be willed as a universal law.

When I was in Art School getting my B.F.A. in photography, part of the
lession plan was to watch movies like "Blow Up" and read Susan Sontag's
"On Photography" 

After that we were exposed to tons of photography. I cringe when I hear
the whir of a fan in a slide projector! 

What it basically came down to for me is take the shot, and be ready for
the result.  Part of why I got into Leica photography was it was hard to
be subtle with my Hassie or the 4x5 camera. I wanted to be able to take
street shots of all sorts of people w/o aggrivating or inciting them into
confronting me. Remember what Sean Penn did to that photographer?
Ofcourse the advantage to the passport warranty is I can use my M6 as a
weapon and send it to leica to have the scalp, bood and hair removed :)

I tend to have a dialog in my head before I take a picture of anyone I
don't know. If they see me I tend to ask if its ok, if they don't see me..
well "Cop didn't see it, I didn't do it" .. Im always in search of images
that interest me, but offending someone to get my image isn't worth it.

- -Mark




On Wed, 14 Jul 1999, D Khong wrote:
> 
> It all boils down to "never judge others by one's standards."  
> 
> I remember when I was taking a picture of a farmer tending to his veggies.
> I was 30 meters away, standing on public property, and he was part of his
> environment (No sireee..... I did not poke my tele into his face).  He saw
> me and charged at me with a lump of mud in his hand.  I just had enough
> time to get into my car and drove off when that lump of mud nearly
> splattered on the vehicle.    I suppose his "personal space" is wider than
> his farm.
> 
> Dan K.
>