I once read somewhere that Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt never leaves home without a camera. He takes his Leica with him, wherever he goes, frequently photographing his life as and when it is happening. In contrast there are, of course, photographers that only take their camera with them when they go out on a job, using it simply as a tool of work. The former ideal has always interested me more and from very early on I decided I'd always take my camera out each day.
Some days, nothing of any great interest will happen. I will walk to my destination, do what I need to do, then walk home without incident. Any photos taken on those days tend to stay unseen on my hard-drive or are deleted altogether. On other days I'll see something. It might be something small, something seemingly unremarkable but I will notice, it will excite me and I will make the photograph. On other days still, I will stumble across an event, a protest, a march - or in today's case - a vigil.
Tonight there was a silent vigil held - it would seem - to mourn the civilian casualties of the 25 year long civil war in Sri Lanka which ended on Tuesday. While the Tamil Tigers are held responsible for much of the killing in the 25 years, the vigil seemed to have a particular message for the Sri Lankan Government whose alleged brutality and human rights violations in the days leading to the end of the war may be investigated by the United Nations.
Some days, nothing of any great interest will happen. I will walk to my destination, do what I need to do, then walk home without incident. Any photos taken on those days tend to stay unseen on my hard-drive or are deleted altogether. On other days I'll see something. It might be something small, something seemingly unremarkable but I will notice, it will excite me and I will make the photograph. On other days still, I will stumble across an event, a protest, a march - or in today's case - a vigil.
Tonight there was a silent vigil held - it would seem - to mourn the civilian casualties of the 25 year long civil war in Sri Lanka which ended on Tuesday. While the Tamil Tigers are held responsible for much of the killing in the 25 years, the vigil seemed to have a particular message for the Sri Lankan Government whose alleged brutality and human rights violations in the days leading to the end of the war may be investigated by the United Nations.
...and of course, if I hadn't had my camera with me as I walked home this evening, I'd have done just that. Walked home.
This is definitely my philosophy too, although as I'm a girl I carry enough crap around with me that it isn't practical to bring the SLR wherever I go. Cameraphones, at least, have a use.
Posted by: last year's girl | 24/05/2009 at 01:48 PM