The Urge

posted by Fotofill on 11 Aug 11 12:52 

Taking photos is a passion, and chasing the perfect photo can lead to obsession. Finding something unique can lead you into all sorts of awkward situations without you even noticing. This is the nature of the hobby. Sometimes the risk outweighs the importance of getting a good photo, the balance of safety against importance can precariously tip in either direction from one second to the next.

I was reading my Twitter stream last night, regarding the London riots, it was a collection of varying tweets from a number of photographers in and around London, some staying indoors avoiding the trouble, whilst others ignoring warning messages about photo journalists being deliberately targeted and venturing out with their cameras (whether such warnings were confirmed or otherwise, it was hard to be sure).

As a photographer, where do you draw the line between personal safety and getting a good picture? how far would you go before you started thinking about the consequences of your hunt for the decisive moment, the picture that tells it all. It's a difficult path to tread, leading to some potentially difficult personal decisions, even if those decisions are only apparent at a subconscious level (if you're lost in a moment, it's all too easy to ignore yourself)

throughout history, key events throughout the world can be highlighted and used to inform the global population through the powerful imagery of a single photograph, famine, war and other negative events, can be used to educate and influence the feelings of people into action against horrific events.

In hostel environments photographers have often risked their personal own safety to get images which they feel are important, which are informative to the outside world; this leads to a series of questions, how does a photographer judge each situation and gauge what is important and what is worthy of the risk? how far is too far? when do you stop?

Undoubtedly, any photographer obsessed with their camera would've considered going into London to take a few snaps, hoping their photo will tell the world, in a single frame what is going on, but then how many of those photographers would've dismissed that idea as madness and forgotten about it, how many of those would've felt guilty as a result of that dismissal? How many would've ignored any feelings of fear, and carried on regardless?

Ultimately the answer to the question "is it worth the risk?" must be considered by each individual photographer, they have to decide if the potential payback (morally, or monetary) is appropriate proportional to the trouble they incur. It's possible to get carried away and completely reckless with your own safety without even noticing the risks until after the event. It's important as a photographer to learn to notice a potentially dangerous situation and then take appropriate action, be it walking away, or going deeper into the rabbit hole. Learning to diffuse any potentially bad situation is an important asset in the arsenal of a photographer.

I feel that every photographer must answer the question, what kind of photographer do you want to be? can you ever become a great photographer without taking a risk?