Selective Amnesia There was a point to this. But I forgot.

Respect, sensitivity and the Chennai PhotoWalk

A pseudonymous commenter – Respect – asks this question.

I read your blog on and off and follow your photowalk updates. I’ve also seen a complaint or two from you post-photowalk-Sunday about “how people treat photographers”. My comment is relevant to that: how many people are in a group of photowalkers? I’ve got the impression that it is 10/15+. Would you like 15 photographers come on to your street/outside your house and start clicking pictures at random? What sort of sensitisation (if any) do you give the folks who come on these tours? Before the question of sensitisation, a more fundamental question: Is it RIGHT for 15 cameras to be in one place (especially populated areas – for instance the slums on Harris Road where people’s lives and effects are all on the pavement for all to see, the “inner lanes” of Vepery, wherever) looking around and clicking at whatever they want to click?

I don’t have a very clear answer.
Oh wait, I do have a clear answer for one question. The usual strength of the photowalk is a high 30s. On a few walks, I’ve had 45 people and more walking the route.

As for the rest, what follows is a meandering take on photography, photowalks and privacy. Please to treat it as such, and with pinches of salt.

Can 15 photographers with cameras assemble at one place? Why not? A photographer has as much right as the rest of us to be at a place and do what he/she wants to do. And as far as I know, there’s nothing in our laws/constitution that prevents photographers (and other professionals/non-professionals) meeting people of a similar bent of mind. The right to move freely within the country is granted us all, including the lowly photographer. If News channels can poke cameras and microphones at random people exiting a cinema hall or take sweeping panoramic shots of slums, why not amateur photographers? Indeed, why not anybody else?

This is something I’ve argued with policemen and museum curators and sundry officials. If there is no clearly-stated ban on photography, then I, and 45 other people I bring with me, are free to take photos of anything and everything. Bear in mind – this ban needs to be at private/semi private spaces. Roads are public space as are pavements, local markets, buses, bridges etc. You cannot ban photography in a public space.

I cannot state this enough. YES! PHOTOGRAPHERS CAN BE AT ANY PLACE THEY WANT TO BE, SHOOT ANYTHING THEY WANT TO, AS LONG AS THERE IS NO CLEAR BAN AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY.

The question about 10-15 photographers outside my street, shooting my house – come on! What do you expect me to answer? Of course I will not mind it. I don’t care what these 10-15 people photograph as long as they don’t come into my house without my permission. The street outside my house is public space. My house is my own private space. I might invite these 15 folks in and that is up to me. (Personally, I’d be thrilled if people landed on my doorstep asking me if they could photograph me/my house.) Again, photography in public spaces is not for any single individual/body of individuals to control. The government might try and impose such a ban, but it will be at the expense of curtailing free speech/expression and free movement.

The question about sensitisation. What is sensitisation? The folks who come to the photowalk – barring a few occasional exceptions – are all Indians, residents of Madras. They know that abject poverty exists, and that people live/work/play/eat/defecate on streets. They are all, I think, mature individuals with taste, education and sensitivity. I don’t think it is necessary for me to teach them not to take photos that would impinge somebody else’s privacy. (What level of privacy do people living on streets have is another question and one I am not going to go into here.)

Personally, I haven’t yet taken a photo of people on the streets unless they specifically asked me to. I don’t shoot people sleeping/eating on the streets, nor do I make a big fuss about such a situation. If there exists a good photo op in such a situation I specifically ask these people if I can take a photo. Go through my photostream on flickr and tell me if I have invaded the privacy of folks in any photo.

The problem with a photowalk is that it is still a novel thing in India, especially Chennai. And there is an age-old distrust+curiosity about the camera. Hence people react to it, sometimes, adversely. I cannot, and do not want to, do anything about it.

The Chennai Photowalks so far have been driven by one overpowering aim – to document the city’s heritage and beauty. That is the only sensitisation I choose to give the walkers. And that, in my not-so-humble opinion, is ALL the sensitisation I need to give.