Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi, no, I have no intention of asking permission in advance. I will exercise due common sense, courtesy and sensitivity to the situation and I won't take hidden, surreptitious or furtive photographs. I've photographed all sorts of rituals and ceremonies in different parts of the world, and never had problems with it. On occasions when people have not wanted me to take pictures it has, so far, always been sufficient for them to shake their head. Mostly though people are very welcoming and happy about it. As somebody else has commented, humanistic photography is about understanding and communication. Empty spaces don't usually do it for me. It's about people living their lives. Cheers, Bob >From: Jem Kime <jem.kime@cwcom.net> > >Bob, >Yes of course I've enjoyed pictures like those you say, but the difference >is that most of these scenarios would have been agreed beforehand. Furtive, >surreptitious photography is unlikely to win any favours with the >organisers of these events. Certainly events like the funerals of Diana and >Kennedy are state occassions where one expects coverage, it must be hard >for the close relatives involved to consider them as personal acts of >worship. >One could argue that ceremonies in public spaces are 'fair game' but I >doubt that many participants would see it that way. > >And for your druid ceremony, are you planning to ask permission in advance? > >I've spent the last 8 years working in religious environments (including >pagan) and never once considered taking pictures of people without asking. >Of an empty church or deserted sacred site, sure, but where is common >decency, sensitivity and politeness? > >Jem > >-----Original Message----- >From: Bob Walkden [SMTP:bobwalkden@hotmail.com] >Sent: 14 September 2000 13:32 >To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us >Subject: RE: [Leica] quiet cameras in cathedrals? > >Hi, > >have you never enjoyed essays about the rituals and customs of other >cultures in magazines such as National Geographic? How about books like >Beckwith and Fisher's 'African Ceremonies'? Or TV coverage such as >Kennedy's >or Princess Diana's funeral? > >I'm planning to photograph a Druid ceremony at next week's equinox. Is that >wrong too? How about Cartier-Bresson's famous picture of the Muslim women >in >Srinagar? Or the innumerable pictures by the banks of the Ganges in >Varanasi? Or Henning Christoph's 'Voudou'? > >Cheers, > >Bob > > >From: Jem Kime <jem.kime@cwcom.net> > > > >Mitch, > >I have to say that for anyone to have the insensitivity to want to > >photograph others in the act of worship beggars belief! >[...] > >_________________________________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. > >Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at >http://profiles.msn.com. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.