Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/25

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Subject: [Leica] stealing souls
From: "Robert Appleby Personal" <rob@robertappleby.com>
Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 08:23:59 +0200

>>>
> In those 'primitive' cultures which resist being photographed because
> the image captures a piece of the subject's soul, there is an argument
> worth hearing, even though it is far too late to apply in most of the
> world.
>>>

I nearly wrote something about this is my previous post, but decided not to.
However, since you bring it up...

I'd take the case of islamic culture in particular which is very camera shy.
You may well say that it's their choice in the end, whether to go along with
the frenzied snapping of the rest of the world. But I would disagree.

I feel that anything that is inevitable is also good (a tempting proposition
straight from the devil's laptop) and in the case of communication by visual
images, the real problem isn't so much whether snapping gets your soul or
whatever, but what you're missing out on, as an entire culture, by banning
this.

In the case of the islamic world, I think, what they're missing out on is
communicating with the rest of us on equal terms. This particular culture is
the target of  any number of misconceptions and false representations in the
west, and it would be to their advantage, I believe, to _show us_ what their
society is actually like. However they prefer to reserve photography for
formal occasions and fomal modes, and in doing so, remain in the shadows.
This is a shame.

No doubt someone will say that it's up to any individual whether to  submit
to being photographed or not. But that isn't the point here, where an entire
culture is against visual representation.

It's really pretty futile hiding your head in the sand; visual images are
king and if you refuse to play the game you get left out in the cold.

There's also a problem with literacy - visual literacy. Check out some
egyptian soap operas or Bombay movies to see what I mean by this. It's like,
nowadays, not being able to read or write.

So I feel that no matter how slick the talk of souls and so on sounds,
there's no advantage for anyone in banning photography - you are effectively
setting up a wall around your culture, and that's something no-one can
_afford_ to do nowadays.

As for the camera being a kind of psychological condom, I personally
_engage_ with the world through photography, and I feel many photographers
do that.

rob.

Replies: Reply from "Pachon" <jcpachon@tutopia.com> ([none])