Photography and Ethics

Vivek our photographer friend, a very recent convert to digital photography, had come over one evening – during the course of conversation he remarked that while digital was one of the best thing that happened to his photography it is the worst thing that has happened to a photographer.

What he really meant was that digital cameras are the cause of decline(at least in proportions) of “Thinking Photographers” the instant gratification of digital seduces you put the thought process on a back burner. This while I found to be very true reminded me of how simply Aasim’s grandfather (’s father and a retired photographer) had taught him to create great compositions. The subject was one of Aasim’s Lego Bionicle lying amid the general clutter of his room. He said to Aasim:

1) See if all you want to photograph is in the frame
2) Look at the remaining space, see if anything you don’t want is in that space – remove it (either physically or changing the POV/zoom), Aasim removed a stuffed toy
3) Look at the remaining space, see if you would like to include anything which will enhance the picture – Aasim added a few more Lego pieces
4) Never put the main subject in the center of the frame!!

It took little more than 15 min for the entire lesson….

Aasim being a child, little did he know that what he got that day was a distilled wisdom of decades, which many adult photographers strive for years to achieve, today he simply does not know any other way and he has some pictures on his camera which puts many other of ours to shame(note to self – put them on-line). It doesn’t matter how so ever sharp that peacock/tiger/person may be in the photograph if the composition chops off their tails/legs/heads it is unacceptably bad. I do have a dilemma as to how I am going to teach Aasim to compose abstracts, but I guess he will evolve his own style

This again brings my chain of thought to the fact that just reading/quoting greatness cannot absolve anyone of their mediocrity let alone make them great, this is not just in context of photography BUT life itself. Just as religion and philosophy is not about doctrines and dogmas it is about being and becoming!! BUT If you are to “Be and Become” then you have to have a measuring tape for the distance you have covered in your journey – It calls for you to be judgmental about yourself and the choices you make. Without such a measuring tape you are doomed to flounder in the unfathomable greyness of morals and ethics which in itself would not be such a bad thing for an individual but unfortunately for most followers of the “greyness” the Grey ultimately changes to black or white, leaving them to whine that life has not been fair on them. The fact is they have not been fair to life. Though the variables involved with life are many more, still the whole concept can be simplified into “Judge and be judged!”

P.S. Those who need a bit more elaborate version of the above photography lesson see this.

  • It doesn’t matter how so ever sharp that peacock/tiger/person may be in the photograph if the composition chops off their tails/legs/heads it is unacceptably bad.

    I feel there are times when this actually enhances a photograph.

    Again, I also feel there are things that may look good to some and not necessarily good to others. That is how that shot was intended to be taken.

    Going by “rules” is fine, but there are times when these rules might not just get you the result you want, at which point you deviate and take the shot as you meant it to be.

    • >I feel there are times when this actually enhances a photograph.
      Accepted, but I have said somewhere else, there is a difference between deliberateness and shoddiness.

      >Again, I also feel there are things that may look good to some and not necessarily good to others.
      Oh yes! just as sometimes it is right to wrong? OR may be more like my right is right the way I meant to it be – don’t judge me!

      • OR may be more like my right is right the way I meant to it be – don’t judge me!

        You hit bang on target there 😉

        • And you side stepped!!

          • And you side stepped!!

            Not at all. The gist of the whole thing (except probably the “Don’t judge me” part) is in that statement of yours 🙂

            may be more like my right is right the way I meant to it be

            • >Not at all. The gist of the whole thing (except probably the “Don’t judge me” part) is in that statement of yours

              Oh really! elaborate please – as now I am lost.

              But before that I would like to say that you are quoting out of context – “don’t judge me” is the gist of it!!

              Hey wait a min – someone and buzzed me and suggested me this – hope you are not being so presumptive as to assume that this post is about you / your photography!!

              • may be more like my right is right the way I meant to it be

                So who decides the right way ?

                • Wisdom!

                  • One’s own.

                    • Sigh! read what I wrote above.

                    • “Don’t judge me” ?

                    • I obviously meant what I have written in the post.

                      Like Swati has written – you have now turned this thread into a “off topic from original post” debate where you are, I don’t know why, trying to confuse (who?), side step and justify (yourself?)

                • Your implications are that right and wrong are conditional!!

                  If it is so, you perhaps don’t have a yard stick for comparison, no amount of knowledge can raise anyone out of this depravity.

                  Tarique Says, Wisdom. You question one’s own!

                  Of course one’s own but wisdom does not imply turing a blind eye to the obvious. Wisdom in itself means distilled knowledge from analysis of facts.

                  In any case, there is more to be read in the post itself than what is being discussed in this thread.

                  • Your implications are that right and wrong are conditional!!

                    I have not made any such statements. My point of view.

                    In Photography, there are clearly defined “rights” and some “wrongs”. Everything else is unknown. Some photos fall beyond these rights (do not necessarily fit into the defined “rights”) at which point it remains for the photographer to use his “eyes” to decide whether that is right or wrong. Clearly speaking, Not every photo can be decided to be right or wrong merely by the “Composition” guidelines. Some photos fall beyond the “Composition” guidelines – does that mean they are bad ? If your answer is yes – I guess we disagree on that.

                    I am not talking about life, as I think it is much more complicated than one can write about. More than ’nuff said.

                    • >Some photos fall beyond the “Composition” guidelines – does that mean they are bad ?
                      Of Course not, such photos are works of greatness BUT using statements like ‘fall beyond “Composition” guidelines’ to bootleg shoddy photography wont make it great! Like Tarique said the difference between deliberate and shoddy is glaringly obvious.

                      And you missed the point, Tarique *was* talking about life. Yes, we do ponder and write about it! We refuse to accept that the basis of our existence here is an unfathomable joke

                    • BUT using statements like ‘fall beyond “Composition” guidelines’ to bootleg shoddy photography wont make it great!

                      Fair Enough. I never said all photographs that ‘fall beyond “Composition” guidelines’ are great. Neither are all photographs that ‘fall in the “Composition” guidelines’ necessarily great. The difference between deliberate and shoddy in either case is pretty obvious.

                      And you missed the point, Tarique *was* talking about life.

                      I was talking about photography, *including* my *first* comment.

  • Thanks for that last link. I’ll have to come back to that site and read the tips.

    I’m looking forward to seeing Aasim’s pictures!