Just Another Label?
Photography. I Love it! I find it relaxing, fun, and I just love to capture "that one precious moment" one that will never happen again, I was going to say that I am an amateur photographer, but as soon as I typed those words I thought why am I amateur? what does that even mean? Does it mean that I am not as good as another person, someone that has had their "Work" published in some trendy magazine? Possibly, it may even mean more to me than those people, throw away their labels, such as Professional, Big Bucks, Mo Jo's whilst cooing over paintings in pure white Art Galleries, but please, don't think I'm mocking any of that stuff because if that's what you like if that makes you happy and your heart sing, then go for it. It's just not for me. So rather than be labelled, I will choose my label. I am J.Doe and photography inspires me, when I look at a photo i have just taken it makes me feel proud and if its one I took of my son as a baby, yes I admit it I may even coo a little!
Last night my childhood best friend and I were talking, as she had posted a photo of me and her on my Facebook wall of when we were both about 12, there we were with our big hair and big smiles, my red jeans and Bon Jovi concert "our moment" and it made me think, we were happy, we didn't care who we looked, we didn't have digital camera's that we could take 25 photos on and then, spend hours deleting until we found the one we look best in, there was no "trout mouth pout" and you will never believe this, but, wait for it ...we were SMILING!
Camera 📸
What I loved most about photography was that whilst I was out and about looking around at things that might make a nice picture the whole process consumed me, I didn't think about anything else at all, all that was in my mind was finding that image that would make a beautiful photograph, an image that may even make it to someone's wall! Anyway, I enjoyed photography so much I decided to buy a digital camera, I chose a Canon EOS D250. It wasn't the most expensive one in the shop, however, I would "label" it middle of the range. Basically, after taking advice from the shop assistant I decided this one would be more than good enough for what I was looking to do in the beginning but would also have what was required for when I wanted to get more serious too, perhaps a time when I turned my hobby into a money-making something...or other!
Canon EOS 250D
I am no camera expert however I would highly recommend this camera, it has automatic settings for profiles, landscape and even sports where it allows the user to hold the button down and it will continuously take pictures quickly one after the other after the other, so, for example, I caught my nephew win his school running race from start to finish, click click click and YAY! the whole sequence was caught on film.
This camera also had manual settings, these can only really be used if you know a little more about photography than I did at the time, so I took a course, Level One Photography at my local college where U learn all about how to use the camera on its manual setting. the manual setting is all to do with mathematics, I am so glad I took a course as they Tutor described in the ins and outs of how to use every part of the camera, which was fantastic as I didn't want to always have to use the Automatic setting, so if you are thinking about taking up photography as a hobby, I would recommend two things, firstly buy a decent Digital camera and most definitely book a Level 1 photography course at your local college.
Here is the link for the Camera I bought, I'm sure this is the newer version of mine however this will give you an idea of what I have been talking about, its look and specifications:
BLACK & WHITE V'S COLOUR
Personally, I prefer photographing in Black & White, however, it does depend on what look or theme I am going for.
It's my personal belief that photographs in black and white have more depth to them, they seem to be able to tell a story without any words, they can often look far more romantic than colour and definitely in my opinion DRAMATIC! below are two practically identical photos however one is in colour and the other in black and white.
Which photo speaks to you more? What would you say is happening in each of these photos? Which one would you chose to put on a website discussing, let's say, homelessness?
DON'T FORGET SEPIA!
Then there is Sepia however Sepia, photos taken in that colour reminds me of the early 20th century or especially to me the 1920's, where women pose, holding a long cigarette with a sleek black cigarette holder, beautiful dress, hair with a little c curl stuck to each side of their face, leaning with one, long, slender arm and diamond-clad wrist on a beautiful piano, where the soft sepia colour makes the lady's face looks almost glowing and the soft edges of the photograph couldn't make them look anymore stunning and elegant if it tried..... or in this photo's case, just damn SEXY!
The Test
I chose to take the photos mainly in black and white as the feeling I was aiming to portray was loneliness and or homeless and I felt that a colour image wouldn't be able to capture the feeling of a dark mood. When looking at the photos I thought of doing a little test. The test would literally just consist of showing this selection (below) of photos to various people and ask them to tell me what one word or feeling these photos brought up for them? This, I thought would be a perfect way to show how individual we all are, how differently and uniquely every single person sees, thinks or feels so completely differently about the exact same thing, in this case, photos.
Words/feelings given by a selection of people:
Lonely
Sad
Thinking/contemplating
Council Estate
Drug Dealer
Hoodrat
Chilling
Bored
Lazy
Benefits
Depressed
Miserable
Lout (haven't heard that word for a while!)
Casual
Waiting
Meeting mates
Meeting mates
Infact, these pictures are of my friend, in an Adidas Tracksuit with his hood up basically posing however I told him to at that time and asked him to look casual in some just chilling and as I said attempting to portray loneliness they were taken in my local area which is very nice, and I decided to use a car park near a block of flats that are being renovated.
So, can you imagine his reaction when I told him the list of words his photos brought up for people? I'm not sure he will offer to be my model again!
Ever heard the statement, "Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover?"
"Labelling"
So basically my test confirmed that although the majority of answers were similar, Lonely & Sad, which is what I intended the photos to portray, for some, they saw and labelled him, "A Council Estate, Bored and Lazy Drug Dealer who is on benefits" oh and let's not forget "looks miserable" (I should think anyone who had been given so many negative labels just by looking at a photo would look that way too!)
So yes this proves that every single one of us on this planet is different, no two people are the same, overall we all think differently, whether right or wrong we all have opinions, but that is exactly what they are, opinions, not FACT, so does anyone have the right to label someone else just by looking at them? (I mean in the real world, not my photos) We normally call this being judgemental and I do not believe there is a single one amongst us including myself that hasn't been judgemental about someone at some time just by what they look like. We have labelled and defined them on what they are wearing, or what make their trainers are, for wearing too much makeup or their accent. When I think about that, it makes me feel ashamed of myself and it also made me very aware that I must have been judged many, many times especially regarding my past, which hurts, however, I can understand that people find it hard to connect or understand what it's like being an addict. A non-addict who has to watch someone they love killing themselves and being so deep in addiction that they even as desperate as they are to stop, can't. It doesn't make sense to them and that is understandable, how could anyone put alcohol before everything, including their children its insane, and that is the definition of insanity, doing the same thing time and time again and expecting different results (Taken from the Big Book of AA). Now sober, I don't expect anyone to just forget everything I have done and the harm I have caused however staying clean and sober hopefully that in time there could be some forgiveness. However much it hurts, I have learnt to accept things as they are and let go otherwise it would eat me up.
Counsellor & Client scenario;
There are fantastic Counsellors, good ones, average ones and then there are ones like the one I once saw who yawned all the way through my session, finished dead on the 45 minutes scheduled, in fact, I'm sure she cut me off mid-sentence to inform me it had been 45 minutes and my time was up and that we will continue next week. Next week? I feel like this now and need to say this now or I may never say it! I remember thinking that she was much more enthusiastic when taking my £50.00 than she was about her job, needless to say, I didn't use her services again. It's sad really as this may be the first time that person had taken a massive step and admit that something is wrong and although feel anxious and scared decide to reach out, be advised by someone to see a Counsellor and experiencing a session a Counsellor like the one I saw may never want to go back and be put through that again and who can blame them.
Sorry, I missed out the part where she did find the time to hand out labels like sweets.
Counsellor: Well, Mrs client from what you have said to me today about the way you feel and by what I took from our meeting is that you certainly have signs of Depression (label 1), you may even be a manic depressive of sorts (label 2), you come across as having extremely low self-esteem (label 3) and I would certainly say that you have a drinking problem, do you think it's possible you are an alcoholic? (Label 4). I also see traits of a personality disorder, I think we should discuss that next week as we have nearly come to the end of your session(it's been 43 minutes exactly so that leaves me 2 minutes to say goodbye and get out of here so as to not get stuck in traffic due to those bloody road works they are doing.....)I won't even consider I may have told the client so much she is now totally Overwhelmed and will certainly use Doctor Google.
Client: Fuck, I wish I'd never come to see this Cow, I feel worst now than when I walked in, how can she say I have a personality disorder, she's only just met me how does she know what my personality is like?, I only came to get some tips with how to stop things getting to me so much, I need to learn to say No I take on too much and then I get overwhelmed which makes me feel a little anxious. I came in for advice and I'm going home; A manic depressive, with no self-belief, low self-esteemed, anxiety fulled drunk! with a personality disorder!
Counsellor: That's £50.00, please, cash only. Same time next week?
Some might say labels are helpful for some people. By labelling the way they feel it can make them feel understood, hearing someone roll out your list of symptoms, your symptoms and for it to actually have a name, reassures the person that they are indeed unwell and not just going mad as they had begun to believe.
However for others being labelled can be extremely detrimental and can often be taken by the person as fact, they can latch on to that label, hold it tightly and not let go. It can give them a reason for choosing not to do that course or go for that job or even take up that hobby they've always wanted to do all because someone who may have all the right qualifications to be a Counsellor, however, has the empathy of a rock felt they had the right to, rather than after however many sessions it may take to get to know the person and to understand the way they think, act feel, has the right to label them and now they go home and wear their labels like a badge or worst still begin to allow their labels define them.
Just a useless piece of information for you all, Google, a search engine where you can type in any question and it will bring up a list of answers, I actually don't think I could live without Google, I love it and I use it for everything HOWEVER when people start using Google instead of going to their GP to research the condition they have been labelled with by their Counsellor can be very dangerous grounds, we can start by looking up symptoms for the flue and end up thinking we have something life threatening.
