The temporary situation
You and I are aware of the photographic potential of something like this. My fellow conference-attender, however, seemed more than a little skeptical as he watched me make this shot. When I was done, he very casually sauntered over to get a closer look at whatever was there. He seemed disappointed.
Phoenix, Arizona
photographed 4.4.2016
Posted on April 29, 2016, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, black and white photography, Escalator, Leica, melinda green harvey, monochrome, one day one image, Phoenix, Phoenix Convention Center, photo a day, photography, postaday. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
While at the book store once, I was flipping through Jay Maisel’s book It’s Not About The F-Stop. In it, he talked about this tree he kept seeing next to the road somewhere, and finally stopped to take a picture of it. While he was standing there, someone else stopped, got out of his car, looked at him and all his kit, looked at the tree, then whipped out his mobile phone and snapped a quick picture, then continued on his way. People are funny.
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That’s a great story! And I bet the cell-phone-photo guy never even glanced at his tree photo again!
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Maybe. I bet he probably showed it to some of his friends and laughed about the guy with all the fancy equipment taking photos… who knows. I see that a bit. “oh, the guy with the camera is taking pictures… there must be something worth photographing”
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That may be right – I can see it happening just that way…!
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This story resonates with me 🙂
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I’m sure it resonates with a lot of photographers!
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it sure does…
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They miss the point that we all see different things, even as we look at the same thing…..
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That’s right, Sue. And only the oddest among us will stop and photograph a caution tape across an escalator…
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😉
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Often when friends and I are photographing in the Smokies we disappoint many. When they discover no deer or bear are involved you see the dissatisfaction as they have wasted a minute or two on nothing. Never fails to amaze me. Aren’t we lucky!
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Yes! We ARE lucky. Over on Instagram (@melgal, if you’re interested), I almost always use #AlwaysSomethingToShoot – because (1) it’s true and (2) sometimes I need the reminder
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Sometimes I think it would be fun to actually hear what people are thinking, but then again perhaps it’s a good thing we can’t always! But as Sue has already said – we see differently – and those who don’t see potential are missing a lot of what is all around us
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I had a guy stop me once, after I’d made a picture (this one: http://bit.ly/1X4IuZt), and ask, “What do you SEE?” I tried to explain it to him but it wasn’t getting it. I think he thought I was a little…crazy! Oh, well. We do what we do and it’s a shame the most people are so unaware of what’s around them.
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One of the traits we have to have as serious photographers is being ‘thick-skinned’. I remember sitting at an outdoor picnic table in the grounds of a Pub and taking pictures of the very photographic engraved glasses holding Peroni Beer and discovering that several tables of fellow drinkers were all staring at me and wondering which Home for the Bewildered had let me out with my carer for the afternoon, or whether I was an Inspector of some sorted checking the Beer or the Glassware!
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