Say you're sitting down in a park or in a tranquil setting and someone wondering around or walking buy decides to photograph you? How do you, would you, handle an admirer? Part of me thinks of it as an un-welcomed invasion of privacy, and I want to turn into an ugly badger, yet another part of me realizes she wouldn't have taken a picture unless she thought I was pretty interesting, and I want to embrace it. It happens once in a while, and I'd just like to know if anyone would like to share similar experiences.
How do you feel about being photographed?
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I am certain being well dressed makes me stand out, in the good way, among the jeans-and-t-shirt type of guys. Men of all ages today have forgotten that dressing well can be fun and it can attract the opposite sex. Dressing well doesn't have to be "lame" or "nerdy"; it's only that way if one makes it. Who do I blame for changing the way the masses think? I don't know, and I don't really care at the moment. As far as looks, I would say I'm average looking, maybe a little above average if I were to toot my own horn. I'm comfortable with my appearance.
I am somewhat of a naturalist when it comes to being photographed, meaning, I believe that moments, whether special or ordinary, should be left untouched, not photographed. Being photographed, especially without permission, takes the magic out of the moment, and it cheapens the experience one is having prior to the picture being taken. I intently observe how delighted photographers are in the pictures they take; it is as if they believe they have captured the essence of something for all of time. Oh, how they do so in vain. The very thing they try to capture eludes them like a fist full of sand.
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It's happened a few times and in each instance, I've felt vaguely uneasy about a stranger taking a picture of me/us (the wife and I). Think about it; what is the potential attraction of a photo...of someone you don't know? The only times I have actually objected have been two occasions when someone wanted to take a picture of us with the grand kids! I won't allow that to happen...it's not safe.
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I agree with you. I never understood why people go on vacation and then spend the whole trip looking through a lens. I would get it if you're an avid photographer with some good quality equipment, but most vacation snapshots are crap anyway.
I went to South Africa a few years back and spent a fair amount of time in the bush observing game. I saw lions kill and eat a zebra from about 100 feet away. It was amazing. And it didn't even occur to me to take pictures of any of it. I still remember it vividly 8 years later. Why cheapen it with a photo.
When my girlfriend and I went to Hong Kong last year, she took about 100 pictures. I took one picture (with my phone) of a kiosk in a store where they were selling various dried fish. I emailed it to my kid brother, who is a squeamishly picky eater. Some photo album.
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I would have an almost pathological aversion to being photographed and ending up on the internet somewhere - I've only contributed shoes to the obvious sticky threads here so far.
However I often tell myself, when I believe that I am particularly well co-ordinated, that I should be on the Sartorialist. Deep down, if it ever happened, I'm sure I would say yes.
However I often tell myself, when I believe that I am particularly well co-ordinated, that I should be on the Sartorialist. Deep down, if it ever happened, I'm sure I would say yes.
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I can't say I've ever been approached by a stranger for a photo. I'm not sure how I'd react. I think it depends on the person asking, and why. If it's a person who is astonished that I look like a dear family member and they want to show the rest of the family there are duplicates, I might go along with it good-naturedly.
Sort of related... I was having lunch at a mall food court one day when I noticed two women staring at me repeatedly. One came to my table and apologized for staring. She said she couldn't get over how much I looked like her husband. She showed me his picture, and well... I'll be damned. We looked like twins. In a case like that I think it might be funny, so I'd probably agree to having my picture taken.
Sort of related... I was having lunch at a mall food court one day when I noticed two women staring at me repeatedly. One came to my table and apologized for staring. She said she couldn't get over how much I looked like her husband. She showed me his picture, and well... I'll be damned. We looked like twins. In a case like that I think it might be funny, so I'd probably agree to having my picture taken.
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Unless you are doing something illegal or embarrassing, why would it matter. We are all out in public in front of thousands of people on a regular basis. The average person's picture could be all over the internet and unless it was some highly publicized picture you could probably count on one hand the number of people that would see it and recognize you. And if you aren't an average person your picture is likely all over the internet anyway.
Several times a year my picture pops up in a newspaper due to my job. It may not be a picture of me specifically, but I am in the picture. Often I am identified by name in the caption and the picture appears not only in the newspaper but in the newspaper's on-line edition where it remains for months at a time. They don't ask me for my permission. They just do it.
Now add to that the number of times that I have openly posted a picture of myself in this forum. I've also posted pictures in other forums when the call would go out for members to let everyone see what they look like. With this internet exposure, not once has anyone ever indicated to me that they saw me on the internet nor has anyone who doesn't already know me identified me through those pictures; not that it would be a big deal if they did. It isn't like anything is going on in a clothing forum that one should be embarrassed about, is it?
For example, here is a picture of me that appeared in a newspaper and on a couple of web sites with my name in the caption. To my knowledge not a single person who didn't already know me has recognized me because of this picture. I would be very surprised if even one person who reads this forum could identify me from this picture.
https://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scan0030gv3.gifhttps://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php
I'm not saying that everyone should start throwing pictures of themselves all over the internet. I'm just saying that I don't understand the paranoia surrounding the idea that someone might see your picture. How silly would it look if Andy blotted out his face, or worse yet superimposed one of those smiley faces on it, in his picture at the top of the page. But to each his own. :icon_smile:
Cruiser
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Cruiser makes a very valid point. Every time we walk out the front door, we are being photographed. When we cross an intersection, pick up the kids from school, walk into the bank or our office building and so fourth we are probably being recorded. One really cannot expect any privacy in public...this is why it isn't illegal for someone to take a picture of another even without the consent of the photographed.
As for me I have been snapped once or twice. I didn't care.
As for me I have been snapped once or twice. I didn't care.
Saw a rather interesting display of the uncomfortable photograph last night. A band named Sorta was playing at the Dallas House of Blues for the last time having decided that to continue as a group was just to painful after the tragic death of one of the bands most vibrant members.
While the music was great you could tell that some of the members were clearly struggling emotionally but photogrophers would get within 3-4 feet for an extreme close-up.
mark
While the music was great you could tell that some of the members were clearly struggling emotionally but photogrophers would get within 3-4 feet for an extreme close-up.
mark
Just confirms my daily affirmation, "I look good, I smell good, and by gosh, people like me."
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Kilted
Visited Stirling Castle in my kilt and a tweed kilt jacket I had just bought in Edinburg, and an older gentleman asked if he could take a picture of me exiting the banqueting hall. I was flattered. Of course, he probably though I was staff.
If I become aware of someone taking my picture that is not part of the group I'm in, I just try not to look into the camera, as much to avoid red eye as to give that person the chance to have a stealth candid shot if they want it. Happens rarely anymore. I kind of miss that
Visited Stirling Castle in my kilt and a tweed kilt jacket I had just bought in Edinburg, and an older gentleman asked if he could take a picture of me exiting the banqueting hall. I was flattered. Of course, he probably though I was staff.
If I become aware of someone taking my picture that is not part of the group I'm in, I just try not to look into the camera, as much to avoid red eye as to give that person the chance to have a stealth candid shot if they want it. Happens rarely anymore. I kind of miss that
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Jovan you need to get outside or something you look really pale
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Better you should be called "pale" than me being called "bald". :icon_smile_big:
Cruiser
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While I don't really like to see photographs of myself, it doesn't really bother me at all.
A few years ago, a friend had a pirate theme party in the summer, and some of us went to see Pirates of the Caribbean afterwards. Mainly to mortify my solidly socially conformist ex-girlfriend, my brother and I remained in costume. After the movie, there were a number of people who wanted to get their picture taken with us, and we were happy to oblige as neither of us takes ourselves too seriously (which you may have gathered from the story...).
If I can be photographed like that and not feel embarassed, I'd be positively flattered to have my picture taken because someone thinks I dress well.
A few years ago, a friend had a pirate theme party in the summer, and some of us went to see Pirates of the Caribbean afterwards. Mainly to mortify my solidly socially conformist ex-girlfriend, my brother and I remained in costume. After the movie, there were a number of people who wanted to get their picture taken with us, and we were happy to oblige as neither of us takes ourselves too seriously (which you may have gathered from the story...).
If I can be photographed like that and not feel embarassed, I'd be positively flattered to have my picture taken because someone thinks I dress well.
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