Interesting Links for 14-01-2014

[fearmeforiampink]

• Why "Stop taking photos and enjoy the view" is wrong
  To be fair, I do try and avoid doing too much 'must capture it all' on events I'm going to, gigs, or whatever. But there's a joy in sharing the random weird stuff I find in London, or the fucked up stuff we come up with in our games of Cards Against Humanity, or just grabbing a few cool moments from a fun night out to remind yourself of it months or years later.
  (tags: Interesting life photography culture social-media )
• Why are my feminist friends still taking their husbands' surnames? | Zoe Holman | Comment is free | theguardian.com
  An interesting question; I can certainly see the very strong arguments for keeping your name, but I can also see those for wanting to share a name as part of the togetherness of marriage. The problem is that patriarchal culture means everyone expects it to be the man's name. Of course, in that case you can double-barrel, or you could even come up with an entirely new name (though few would, I think)
  (tags: Interesting feminism names culture comment comment-is-free )
• “What Happened Next?” update chapter from Bad Pharma 2013
  (tags: Interesting Bad-Science Ben-Goldacre medicine lies-damn-lies-and-statistics statistics )
• Why people on benefits have a flatscreen TV
  and expanded musings on the nature of cashflow, and what stuff counts as a 'I have a bit of extra cash, get something nice' purchase
  (tags: Interesting money benefits poverty comment link-is-to-a-Facebook-page )

Comments

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I've had the 'stop taking photos...' debate elsewhere - I have no problem with someone taking photos, what I do have a problem with is people going to gigs and then standing still watching it through whatever the device they are filming it on, and getting grumpy at me for dancing in front of them. One is enjoying something your own way, the other is negatively impacting on other people's ability to do the same.

Also, people who stop in the middle of roads out in the Highlands to take photos and then glare at motorists who expect them to move, because no-one has work to get to out there do they? (I have a twitter friend who lives and works in Assynt and this has genuinely happened to her).

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I don’t go to many gigs but what I’m struck by is how often the photographs I see of gigs are very, very poor.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I am never going to another gig in Aberdeen after the Florence & the Machine gig last year - absolutely zero atmosphere because the majority of the people there were trying to film it and not dancing. And trying to get out of the car park afterwards...

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I am becoming increasing interested in photography but I’ve made a conscious decision to either take my nice DSLR camera and do photographing or leave it behind. If I’m taking photographs I’ll either go by myself, or take myself off for a bit or explain to MLW that I’ll be taking some photographs and from time to time I’ll want five minutes to compose and

I find photographing things somewhat distancing from experiencing the human elements of the thing.

I agree with the XKCD character about photographing something making you pay closer attention to it. On the other hand, when I’m out with my family or with friends the experience I want to pay attention to isn’t the view of the thing but the shared time together.

So this weekend when MLW, the Captain and I went up to the Crief Hydro for her birthday I didn’t take the camera. I wasn’t then distracted from enjoying my time with them by thinking about how I should frame the photograph.

I took a couple of snaps on my phone (how good is the 21st century), posted a few to Facebook to share and a few I kept as a momento.

I feel strongly that my desire to take a photograph of something is definitely trumped by someone else’s desire to go and stand next to the thing, or prod it or clambour on top of it.

I think photographing something and not photographing something are two differente types of experience. I think it’s a question of what you are trying to enjoy.