The Ethics of Photography?

 In my twenties, when someone asked what my hobbies were, I usually said that I love to travel and to take photos. I still like to do both, but as I hardly ever go traveling anywhere, it's not easy to "meet" a scene that really impresses me to the point that I can't help but press the button on my camera. Sure, I still take pictures while walking around if the weather is nice or the sky is blue, but photography is the more fun when you are at a new place, a non-home, "exotic" (and I put this in quotation marks because I   do not want to be an Orientalist or a slummer) place.

Taking photos of beautifully clothed people in India, or of impressively old buildings in European countries such as Prague or Budapest, was a hobby of mine. But I wonder. And I think I thought about this even when I was traveling. Was I an Orientalist? Was I "slumming" in India, in Rakitovo, in other various countries and cities I walked about with my camera? Was I not objectifying these people, framing their realities in an aesthetic kind of way, always behaving as the one behind the screen, as the one in control of the gaze? I complained of having been under the gaze of Indian men in my previous post, but wasn't I doing the same thing, intruding their everyday lives with my constant clickaclacks and flashes (although I rarely use the flash function) of my digital camera? What right did I have, a mere passer-by, to objectify these people under my view finder?

Come to think of it, the word view-finder, is rather ironic. What view? Oh, that view i found! Wasn't I reducing their reality to a piece of a "view" that I would take away with me, without their consent?

This picture was taken in Udaipur, a little set-up village sort of museum (?) for tourists. They were performing and telling us to take pictures, so I guess my "objectifying" of the dancer was not entirely a crime. We paid them some money after having seen their performance, clapped like crazy people, and my friend actually danced alongside this girl in the photo, because they wanted us to be a part of dance. And she was the only one who could dance- I am a terrible dancer, and JK was shy, so we nudged her to be brave and fun while lingering in the back, taking photos. We all laughed. They had a nice time with us, or at least, didn't object to spending time with us, showing their moves. So, it wasn't a crime exactly. Travelers always take pictures, especially at places like this. I wasn't the only one. I wasn't offending anyone. But still. it is something I should think about.

I love to take pictures of PEOPLE when I am traveling. Landscape photographs mean much for me, because I can always look at pictures taken by other travelers, or even buy postcards (oh, I should do a posting about postcards. I just read about them). So, here are two more pictures with Indian people in them. The photo was taken near Conut place (and again, spelling is probably wrong), of ladies selling beautifully crafted quilts. I wanted to buy one of those, but did not, for I had about 4 more weeks to travel and did not want to lug that around with me. I was to come back to Delhi at the end of the trip anyways, so I thought I might just take a picture of the great scene and purchase the quilt later, if i have money left. So, the pictures.-- the framing is perfect, and I am still, happy with them. Not just the natural feeling of the picture that captures the women at work, but the overall colors that pop so vibrantly. The quilt is such a nice background, and the ladies are themselves, so pretty in their colorful clothing. I love the colors of their clothes blending in with the quilts. So picturesque, so wonderful. But see, the "picturesque" part bothers me. The picturesque. I had reduced these people to a picture. I had framed it so that I did not have to see the messy streets on which these vendors were set up. I composed it so that when I see the picture, I would see first, (and I say first here, because although the picture does not include the streets, I still remember the streets I cut out!) the beauty of the objects I chose to include in the frame.

And I had not gotten the permission to take these pictures. The digital camera was small, and I am good at taking pictures without being noticed. Zoom in, and crop out. That's how I did this. Without any guilt. With a certain enjoyment of having control, come to think of it. It was not done maliciously, but as a budding postcolonialist, I now ponder on such matters whenever I look at my pictures from my trips abroad, especially this trip to India. I have lots of such pictures, and I will be posting some of them, but with an awareness-- I confess here. When I go abroad, I am no better than the writers I often accuse of being Orientalists.

When and if I go to India again, I can't promise not to take such pictures again. I really love the color schemes of the cities there, and I can't take pictures without people in them. So, here is a problem that I can't quite solve.

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