Taking Pictures of People Taking Pictures
Many summers ago I often went down to nearby Peggy’s Cove to pick up my two grandchildren, Phoebe and Eli, who had jobs there. While I waited for them to finish work I would take a look around.
I was intrigued by the number of photographs being taken although this was hardly surprising since Peggy’s Cove is not only a popular tourist destination but a visually stunning combination of sea, sky, rocks, wharfs and a picturesque village.
I thought about the whole notion of taking pictures - why we do it and how we do it and being a photographer myself - the folly of the whole enterprise. They say more pictures are being taken now than ever before - mainly the result of digital photography and the easy sharing of images. There is a proliferation of photographic devices, including good old point and shoot cameras, expensive SLR’s, cell phones, pads, camcorders and even Go Pros mounted on drones.
To amuse myself I decided to start taking pictures of people taking pictures. I felt relatively unobtrusive since I was just another person with a camera. If anyone asked what I was doing I told them about this project and this often resulted in interesting conversations about photography.
It is all quite touching in a way - the care we take framing up the picture, the poses we make, the memories and love we share through our snaps and in a few cases the danger we put ourselves in to get that great shot. Peggy's Cove is beautiful but like the world not without peril.
