Even when a picture is worth 1000 words, I like to add a few extra just to show things which are hidden. For example, you do not need me to tell you that this is a photo of me and my wife. You can see my backpack, two spoons in the gelato (passion fruit is amazing), and my hat that nicely tells what I won’t give to those who have problems when I aim my camera at them. Like the old man that sat next to us, and watched me intently while I was taking this shot. I thought this is because he wasn’t sure if I got him in a frame or not (I did – partially). When I sat back, he leaned toward me and started asking questions about camera, photography and fun of taking pictures. We spent a bit of time chatting about everything until he had to leave.
This made me reflect on what does the camera in my hand do to the attitude of people around me.
So far, most of the camera related threats I received were from my friends and coworkers warning me that somebody MIGHT complain. Much more often I was chased by people who wanted to ask where can they find and purchase my photos. Last person to do it was a girl working in a ZOO, and she bought a few photos, even though I offered them for free as she really helped me get some great shots with her tips. She appreciated my expertize and had no problems paying for it. Nice J.
There were many parents asking me to ‘shoot’ their kids on sport fields or graduation ceremonies. There were many who approached me to talk about cameras in general, or with a question about particular problem, but absolute majority was positive and that is one of the reasons I love taking pictures. It opens people to communicate, to talk about their passions or to express their gratitude for photos. It is a great conversation starter even at a time when photographers are getting demonized. Two days ago I spent whole day on a beach with a lot of beautiful girls and many of them topless. The only time my camera was not in my hand was when I went to swim, and my wife was taking pics of me. The only time I was (silently – eyebrows raised) questioned was when my 360 degrees turn around ended up with a camera in a faces of two girls and their muscled friend. Since distance was just a few feet, I laughed and explained this was a full circle wide photo, so we ended up discussing if a skateboard could help me do it better or not.
This long rant is really just a thank you note to all people that treat me nice while I take in my surroundings one memory at a time. There are too many bad photographer’s experiences I see everywhere and I’m really glad I do not have one of those stories to tell at this time.
~~~
Прави туризам је када седиш у кафићу и пушташ људе да парадирају испред тебе. Много је лакше концентрисати се на оговарања, стереотипове и расизам када си стациониран па су промене лакше видљиве. Школске униформе су обавезне, иако то значи да у овом малом месту нижи разреди имају велике зелене руксаге и исто нијансиране зелене аустралијске шешире са прешироким ободом за ту ситну децу. Мало старије цурице смо видели у једнаким плаво белим пепита хаљиницама, али не знам шта би са момцима. Или су им униформе такве да их нисам приметио или их нема. Не знам. Мораћу једном да идем около и само шкљоцам децу да видим све узорке.
У међувремену, Андријана је коментарисала нешто што ја нисам одмах приметио – слике Зорице како се одмара су као нека специјална места у туристичкој понуди. Тамо где се стане и размишља о животу, болним ногама или црвеним као рак леђима. Нигде се не журимо, нико нас не чека бринући се, нема потреба за фрком. Ту смо да уживамо, да нам буде лепо, и да смо активни када хоћемо, а да седнемо и искључимо се онда када нам то прија. Е, то је ОДМОР.