Our metaphors matter \u2013 in photography and in justice<\/p>\n
As a photographer, I\u2019ve often reflected on how frequently photographs serve to divide rather than create connections between people.\u00a0 It is so tempting to emphasize the \u201cotherness\u201d of subjects rather than what we have in common.\u00a0 As a result, photographs often leave subjects feeling degraded and violated.\u00a0 They undermine rather than build a sense of community.<\/p>\n
Photography can exploit or it can respect.\u00a0 Its impact depends on how it is conducted.\u00a0 That, in turn, is determined in subtle, often unconscious, ways, by how we talk and think about what we do when we photograph.\u00a0 How we do<\/em> photography is affected by how we view <\/em>photography and that in turn is affected by the images and metaphors that shape our language.<\/p>\n When we think and talk about concepts or, in fact, anything that we cannot see or touch, we compare them to other things.\u00a0 Consequently, most of our ideas about the world are couched in images and metaphors.<\/p>\n When we talk about justice, we often \u201cright\u201d wrongs or \u201cweigh the evidence,\u201d using the image of a scale. \u00a0In the western world, we talk about time as if it were a commodity: we \u201csave\u201d time, we \u201cspend\u201d time. When people of faith try to comprehend the mystery of a Creator, we often rely on human images such as father or mother or judge. In such cases, we are using something we understand to comprehend and symbolize something we know incompletely.<\/p>\n Our metaphors subtly shape how we see and react to the world.\u00a0 When we talk about a \u201cwar on crime,\u201d for example, we are using the metaphor of battle to describe a social problem.\u00a0 This metaphor in turn reinforces certain stereotypes and assumptions.\u00a0 It emphasizes the \u201cotherness\u201d of offenders, disguising the fact that they are much like us.\u00a0 By objectifying an \u201cenemy,\u201d the war metaphor allows us to justify all sorts of actions against those who have caused harm.\u00a0 This metaphor creates the false assumption that the solution lies in weapons, in \u201coutgunning\u201d the enemy, in deterrence through fear.<\/p>\n In photography, the words and metaphors we use are profoundly disturbing. We \u201cshoot\u201d <\/em>or \u201ctake\u201d a photo.\u00a0 We aim our camera. The language of photography is predominately aggressive, predatory, acquisitive, imperialistic.<\/p>\n This militaristic image is reflected in the design and marketing of equipment.\u00a0 Cameras with their protruding lenses often look like weapons and are often designed to put in front of our faces like masks or guns.\u00a0 And they are advertised this way.\u00a0 A famous lens manufacturer announces that its \u201cnew snub-nosed zoom shoots to kill.\u201d\u00a0 An ad for a photo lab has a cowboy holding a camera like a gun against a western sky with a \u201cwanted\u201d poster on the wall behind him.\u00a0 A store for professional photographers advertises that the company is \u201cresponsible for over 2,876,431 shootings.\u201d\u00a0 It touts its \u201carsenal\u201d of equipment and promises that its service will \u201cblow you away.\u201d\u00a0 We call our compacts \u201cpoint-and-shoot\u201d cameras.<\/p>\n The way we actually photograph, unfortunately, frequently reinforces this image of photographer-as-aggressor. Often we approach photography like a hunt, stealing photos and collecting images like trophies. We sneak \u00a0photos with a telephoto lens without the subject\u2019s consent.\u00a0 We use the camera to avoid interacting with our subjects.\u00a0 We treat the photos as commodities with no input from the subjects about how they are portrayed, how the image is edited or where it is used.<\/p>\n Is it any surprise, then, that subjects feel violated and that photos so often divide and degrade?<\/p>\n Fortunately, there is an alternative way to approach photography.<\/p>\n When we photograph, we do not actually reach out and take anything.\u00a0 Rather, we receive an image that is reflected from the subject.\u00a0 Instead of understanding photography as taking<\/em>, we can envision it as receiving<\/em>.\u00a0 Instead of a trophy that is hunted, an image is a gift.<\/p>\n In reality, photography is a matter of opening ourselves to receiving.\u00a0 Such photography means cultivating a attitude of receptivity, an openness to the unexpected.\u00a0 This approach is more like meditation than a hunt.<\/p>\n Conceived in this way, photography requires respect for the subject.\u00a0 The subject plays a crucial part in our creation and thus involves a reciprocal exchange. As photographer John Running says in his book, Pictures for Solomon, <\/em>\u201cMaking a photograph is usually a collaboration between the photographer and the subject.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if the subject is a landscape, a still life, an animal or a person.\u201d\u00a0 As a result, he says he tries to photograph \u201cwith care, respect, truth and wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n If we are committed to this approach, our images should seek to convey respect, not arouse pity \u2013 to humanize rather than depersonalize.<\/p>\n Full collaboration and reciprocity between photographer and subject are not always possible.\u00a0 Nevertheless, we have a choice.\u00a0 Photography can be an act of piracy or a form of meditation.\u00a0 If we recognize images as gifts, if we cultivate an attitude of receptivity rather than acquisition, then our photography will certainly be affected by this in positive way.<\/p>\n Only when we photograph with care, respect, truth and wonder can we create photographs that encourage rather than destroy life-giving community.<\/p>\n Whether we are seeking justice or doing photography, our metaphors matter.\u00a0 In a future entry I will look more specifically at some justice implications.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our metaphors matter \u2013 in photography and in justice As a photographer, I\u2019ve often reflected on how frequently photographs serve to divide rather than create connections between people.\u00a0 It is so tempting to emphasize the \u201cotherness\u201d of subjects rather than what we have in common.\u00a0 As a result, photographs often leave subjects feeling degraded and....<\/p>