Cameras change things

A week or so ago I was photographing a protest by motorcycle riders at Trafalgar Square.  I was snapping away and these guys clearly mistook me for Brad Pitt - it happens all the time...;-))

At first I ignored them but the hammering on the coach window became more insistent so I raised the camera and...ooh la la...as it says on her T-shirt.  London! Lock up your sons... 

Despite what anyone says, holding a camera is not a neutral, fly on the wall act of observation.  Cameras change things.  

In this case, the camera induces harmless posing and fun but there is more to this...

I was immediately taken back to Weegee's image of a drowned man on the beach at Coney Island.  There are looks of aggression towards the camera but the girl in the image (possibly the victim's relative or girlfriend) begins to pose for the camera...

Bang up to date, "Cultures of Resistance" film director Lara Lee was onboard the Gaza-bound flotilla that was involved in the confrontation with Israeli forces and suffered violent consequences.  I have no problem with Lara's cause or her choice for humane activism, and I very sincerely hope she is safe.  

What concerns me is the impact of the camera in these circumstances.  On Jez Coulson's blog she is quoted as expecting a 'major confrontation' with the Israeli forces.  Here I begin to question the ethics and role of the image-maker; a confrontation would undoubtedly make for interesting imagery that would promote the story - but we cannot use that kind of motive as a way to legitimise our presence.  I'm sure that Lara wasn't expecting the violence that ensued and, in the event, it is the Israeli forces have shown their imagery as a way of justifying their actions against the protestors.

Would there have been a different outcome without the presence of the various cameras? Maybe...

So for me the bottom line is that we need to be wary of the effect of pointing cameras; they have the power to change the way events unfold.