People have got a new kind of fear-fear of SLRs!!! One can understand the anger of anyone when he/she falls inside the field of view of an imposingly big camera. But that does not mean that he/she has to become hostile towards the photographer without finding out whether the photographer has covered her/him in the frame. It is really good to see people aware of intrusion into privacy. But the sad part of it is, they are not aware of where the threat really comes from.
I would like to mention an incident where I was prohibited from using my camera. I went to a shopping mall with my friend, who wanted to shoot his pictures. The people at the entrance
checked my bag with a metal detector, asked me to open the bag. They said I should not use the camera anywhere inside the mall, whatever my intention is. I thought they have banned the use of cameras inside the mall. But when I went in, I was shocked to see that virtually everyone was shooting the open space. Some of them were focusing on people behind their subjects, as usual.
Another incident took place as I was travelling back to my room after the office got over. I was trying to shoot the handles dangling from above with a shallow Depth Of the Field. Initially there were taunts from behind. Two guys assumed I was from the north; they obviously thought I was a tourist shooting pictures of the people in the bus. I wonder how they treat people, especially the construction workers-(even the most bigheaded IT guys will survive devoid of such incidents, even without learning the language), who are from the north. When it became
unbearable, I turned around and asked them what the hell they wanted, in Madurai dialect (It is considered as the purest Tamil dialect, though it is nowhere good as the Jaffna dialect-and Chennaiites can’t take pride in their dialect, of course). Their faces fell down and said, “nothing”.
I continued shooting and suddenly, the conductor came running at me as if I had set off a bomb in the bus. He started to shout at me and tried madly to grab the camera. I never expected this and tried to protect my gear. He asked me what my intention was and how I would use the images.
Stung by what he was doing, I asked him with controlled rage to see the pictures I had shot first. There was not one picture with identifiable subjects in the frame. Even after knowing what I had shot, he went away with suspicious looks, though keeping an eye on me, thereafter. He never apologized to me for his rude behaviour. The worse part of the commotion was the
people were looking at me as if I am a psychopath who had to be locked away.
So, what should you do if you think someone is focusing the camera at you? Go and grab the camera? Definitely not, professional photographic equipments cost a fortune. You don’t want to end up breaking a Nikon D3x + 24-70mm f/2.8 Af-S worth more than 5.5 lakhs, don’t you? It is imperative to ask the suspect photographer with an SLR to show what he/she shot in such situations. If you have a prejudice against those who use SLR’s, read the following
- SLRs are huge and those who shoot pictures with them in the open can be spotted even by those who have the worst eyesight. And candid photography is being done with the smallest of compact cameras or even worse, mobile phone cameras for that particular reason.
- Lenses with wide apertures, such as my 50mm f/1.8 normal lens + a bigger sensor/film have a very shallow depth of the field at wide apertures and out-of-focus subjects cannot be identified (I shot a picture of my colleague for a visual aid for an ayurvedic anti-diabetic medicine. His face was barely 3 feet away from the lens. I focused on his protruding hand taking a sweet from a dish; I could fulfill his condition that his identity should not be revealed). On the other hand, compact cameras and fixed focal length cameras (read as mobile phone cams) have smaller sensors and their aperture are restricted/fixed so as to produce optimal depth of the field. Even if the person using them has no vile intentions, subjects in the background will be captured unintentionally
- There is an argument that someone with anti-social/’terrorist’ intentions may shoot pictures of a crowded place for setting up bombs. Forget the fact that Google maps and GPS enabled mobile can help them reach the target directly with ease. Even if they wish to shoot pictures of the place, they would not want to draw attention, won’t they? (unless the person is a spy in the robes of a diplomat, like Headley. Will anyone stop such a person?) It is possible for him/her to capture details with any 6+megapixel camera. He/she does not need an SLR for that purpose.
So, please do remember that those who carry mobile phones and compact cameras threaten your privacy more than those who carry SLR’s. If you have doubts, request them politely to show the pictures the photographer has shot recently.
PS. I will update this article with pictures to substantiate my argument.
