When I see pictures like this, I think: Folks, you're there, right now. Put down the camera, the iPhone, the whatever is coming between you an the event, the person, and be present.
In my time in rome as a Seminarian it never ceased to amaze me that people would get close to the Pope and then take out a camera to take a photo, thereby inevitably missing the opportunity to actually interact witht eh Pontiff. Around the Pope there are always the professional photographers - so if you get near the Pope you will be in a shot with him. Many I fear are in the shot but because they have a camera or iphone up to their eyes a great photo opportunity is missed.
To be completely fair in the analysis of this photo, it should be noted that it appears that they were taken in different locations. The "2005" photo looks like the people in the street can't even see the balcony from where they are, so there is no need for a camera to be out.
If the balcony is visible from where the people in the "2005" photo are, it clearly wasn't taken when anything important was happening, otherwise we would have seen a sea of digital cameras, or, at a minimum, film cameras, being held aloft.
Not that I'm trying to downplay the impact of the photo (ok, maybe a little bit). Social media and ease of access to the internet has definitely changed the way events are experienced now, and this photo is an accurate representation of that.
I was just arguing that it is a bit misleading in that it implies that these two photos were taken at the same moment, 8 years apart.
4 comments:
When I see pictures like this, I think: Folks, you're there, right now. Put down the camera, the iPhone, the whatever is coming between you an the event, the person, and be present.
I think it's photoshopped.
In my time in rome as a Seminarian it never ceased to amaze me that people would get close to the Pope and then take out a camera to take a photo, thereby inevitably missing the opportunity to actually interact witht eh Pontiff. Around the Pope there are always the professional photographers - so if you get near the Pope you will be in a shot with him. Many I fear are in the shot but because they have a camera or iphone up to their eyes a great photo opportunity is missed.
To be completely fair in the analysis of this photo, it should be noted that it appears that they were taken in different locations. The "2005" photo looks like the people in the street can't even see the balcony from where they are, so there is no need for a camera to be out.
If the balcony is visible from where the people in the "2005" photo are, it clearly wasn't taken when anything important was happening, otherwise we would have seen a sea of digital cameras, or, at a minimum, film cameras, being held aloft.
Not that I'm trying to downplay the impact of the photo (ok, maybe a little bit). Social media and ease of access to the internet has definitely changed the way events are experienced now, and this photo is an accurate representation of that.
I was just arguing that it is a bit misleading in that it implies that these two photos were taken at the same moment, 8 years apart.
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