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I oscillate between a number of concepts.. Embracing the idea of looking like a tourist. This has the advantage of being true, but it also gives you a certain license to accidentally commit the odd faux pas (I try not to do these intentionally), which often goes with the territory of shooting in public which some/many people think is un-ethical / immoral / illegal etc, so to a certain extent the entire activity is already unacceptable. Appear more like a local. This means you won't stand out as much, and will get afforded less social lee-way along with the higher expectations. It means you have to do an incredible amount of work to pull it off, including clothing, bags, body language, walking speed, etc etc. Even if you can actually pull this off, you'll still appear like a local shooting in public, which may or may not be socially accepted. Become invisible. While requiring the most work to not only look like a local, but also look like a local who isn't shooting when you actually are, this has the worst penalty for failure, as if someone does realise you're shooting then this is when the sneaky / creepy associations take full effect and you will be treated to the highest level of public hostility. There are also a number of practical limitations to these. When I was in China my wife and I were often the only white people. Our first trip was for two weeks and during the entire trip we saw less than 20 white people, and if you exclude the Unesco World Heritage site we visited, and the street markets, I think we saw 3. Kids would openly stare at us - some like we were the first white people they'd ever seen in real life and like we'd just stepped out of a TV. Old men would stop talking and the whole group would turn to stare at us as we passed by. Old women would look at us and then look away when we looked at them. This was in a city of 2+ million people, so wasn't some tiny town in the middle of nowhere. There were obviously other tourists from other cities and other parts of Asia. My wife recognised people with different accents from the other parts of the country (she watches a lot of Chinese dramas!) and I recognised accents from Singapore and other parts of SE Asia. But basically, as the only westerners in the area, and being over 6' tall, and carrying a large camera, good luck not appearing like a tourist there! I also think there's some authenticity with just appearing as what you actually are. I've heard from a number of westerners living in Japan that even though they've been living there for decades and speak completely functional Japanese, locals will still switch between Japanese and broken English when talking to them, and there isn't really anything they can do to make the local just talk to them in Japanese. So these people are literally locals, and yet because of their appearance still get treated like they can't even speak the language properly. I've also noticed a significant difference in the vibe when out shooting between different places. In some places the locals don't like you shooting in public (and they will let you know - subtly or otherwise!), in some places the people don't like it but won't say anything (e.g. Japan) and in some places the people will freely speak their minds but don't care (e.g. China). I've heard some parts of SE Asia are also indifferent to people shooting in the street. One thing I have learned though, is that body language and your instincts seem to be universal. I've had many experiences where it felt like something was off (despite logic not indicating this) and it turned out to be that way, and also in times when logic would have suggested things weren't right, but my instincts said things were ok and they turned out to be fine then as well. An example of that was that I was in Cambodia and walking around in the back-streets and alleyways at night, and my logic was saying "are you crazy???" but my instincts said things were fine, and I discovered that what looked like a warehouse district was actually family homes (you could see the ancestor shrines through the cracks in the huge industrial doors each home had) and the commotion around the next blind corner was actually young kids riding their bikes and playing. I still see the benefit of a small camera and not dressing like a caricature of your home culture, but authenticity begins with your appearance matching what you are, which the people around you may or may not like, but you won't get the negative reactions associated with misleading people and them finding you out. I seem to have 'composition brain' that turns on quite a lot as well. I find that when I am travelling it helps me to appreciate the aesthetics of my surroundings and makes me really look at where I am, rather than just drift along as the place washes over me and is immediately forgotten. It is definitely something I am very conscious of though, and I turn it on and make sure I do it properly, and when appropriate I turn it off and don't think about it at all. This means I can fully enjoy a location, or a meal, or an interaction / conversation with someone, and also fully enjoy shooting as well. I'm sure when I'm shooting I'm missing moments, and when I'm not shooting I'm missing compositions, but keeping them each 'pure' prevents me from trying to do both and accomplishing neither and just wasting that time. -
By eatstoomuchjam · Posted
He's also harmful in that I've dealt with more than one director who said that we wouldn't be taking the time to light things on set and referenced him. "We're going to do this more like Malick - natural light only, no lighting." "Right, but have you seen most of his films? They don't look very good." "That's the aesthetic I'm going for." "Cool, well I'm out then. Wish you the best with your film." (Their shorts, when done, made you long for a Malick film) -
By Andrew - EOSHD · Posted
Is the 14mm F2.5 II the same optically as the original? -
By Andrew - EOSHD · Posted
Let's change the subject. Terrance Malick is the most overrated boring director ever, adored by hipsters, hated by real filmmakers. -
Ha, me, everywhere all the time. I cannot step out of my house without continually working out how to shoot in any given environment whether it’s public transport, a restaurant, a bus, an elevator… It’s something that is just hardwired into you! 😂
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