Monday, July 12, 2010

Having my photograph taken in a public space by a stranger re R.Barthes

Recently, while outside the Serpentine Gallery in London, someone smiled at me and took my photograph; he was completely unknown to me. I wondered what had made him want to take my photograph and felt a moment of pride that he wanted to do so which was quickly followed by a twinge of fear before the matter was consigned to the past as an event that happened.

I chose however, to consider the moment that had passed and my reactions, wondering if they related to my own feelings when photographing strangers; usually, I do not make my self known to the subject because usually they are not the subject of the image rather they help to make a scene.

Roland Barthes writes about the experience of being photographed in Camera Lucida, section 4.

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