RE: [Leica] quiet cameras in cathedrals?

["M.E.Berube of GoodPhotos.Com" <MEB@goodphotos.com>]

At 08:30 PM 9/14/00 -0400, Apostolos Mamatas wrote:
>At the heart of the discussion seems to be a somewhat negative view of 
>photography itself. Many would-be photographers can view the act of 
>photographing as one of theft. To them, I would say, "What is so *wrong* 
>with taking pictures?" If you feel this way, of course you are justified 
>in seeing the photographing of people in the act of worship as a violation 
>of their person. Of course, I myself always ask first before blatantly 
>photographing them. There is, however, nothing wrong with the 
>surreptitious photograph, as long as you don't get caught! You have to 
>believe that photography is positive; it is life-afirming. I don't *take* 
>your picture--I record a scene. That's all. No one has lost anything in 
>what is, after all, the briefest of moments. Be respectful of others, but 
>always know that what you are doing is inherently an act of respect.

I agree with your last sentence, that is a good start. Photographs are 
powerful modes of communication. The average Joe on the street still is of 
the impression that Photographs don't lie and that how THEY interpret a 
scene represent the facts surrounding the image. In reality (as most of us 
here know) how that fraction of a second in time that is captured on film 
is interpreted relies a LOT on the intent and skill of the photographer. As 
a member of a minority religion, I know that I don't want to trust images 
of my religious services to anyone who might (intentionally or not) 
misrepresent the context of any particular moment in time. We've got enough 
trouble with misunderstanding my faith. I can't speak to the rest of the 
world (humans are human and it probably is the same world round) but 
history bears out that Western Society certainly is very quick to pass 
judgment on anything that they don't have a complete knowledge of...a photo 
gets misunderstood, accusations fly and someone gets burnt at the stake. It 
is a grave responsibility that a simple recording of the scene sometimes 
does a disservice to. I think that as artists or documentorialists (?) the 
onus is on us to do our best to give a fair and accurate rendering of human 
interaction that we photograph so that innocents aren't harmed by obvious 
misinterpretation.

But hey, it is an opinion, I could even be wrong.

Carpe Luminem,
Michael E. Berube
http://goodphotos.com