With the Photographer

I don't know how many of you have heard of the short story "With the Photographer" by Stephen Leacock but I just stumbled upon the title while I have been sitting duck through the fritter of photographers floating around on the internet. One should understand the distinctive line between Photographer and lens-bearer. Just carrying a DSLR around doesn't make anyone an ace craftsman, I say that because I've been there and done that.

Thanks to the affordable prices of DSLRs, half of my friends on Facebook own them. Everyone of them has a showcase and samples would be added every now and then until you acknowledge their creativity. Even then, after you carefully choose one photo that really caught your eye and appreciate them for it; it only gets worse. They feel much proclaimed and start clicking everything that they see. In those artistic escapades to explore their creative side, they spook, alarm, rag and leave you with no choice but to watch these common ones:


Yes its me! The most common photograph that I come across. How natural is it for everyone to feel that they are the first ones to explore this angle of their creative side. I'd rather give my camera to someone else and get a good portrait of myself rather than hiding behind the lens.

If you wanted to show just the camera, why do you to bother to take your car out? Don't you have a bigger mirror in your bathroom?


Oh! Those beautiful flowers. Agreed, they are beautiful. There are atleast 3 trees in every street so I wouldn't care even if those beautiful flowers on those gorgeous trees have a  pleasant sky in the background.If you really like the world to look that beautiful, how about planting a tree?

There is a similar creed that exists that live on Macro photography. I know it takes a lot of patience and pain to get those but I really don't care because I can see it with my naked eye. I appreciate their effort but could anyone please acknowledge my artistically challenged brain?


Riser and Setter. I know Sunrise and Sunset are beautiful and I like them too but I feel they can be much appreciated when you see them naked, I meant with naked eyes? Probably, this is the most common photograph that everyone captures. Behind the trees, Amidst the clouds, Over the waters, Inside the valleys being the various 'jhalaks'.


The Hallow. Are you kidding me? A floor lamp, Lamp Post, Street light? Is that all theycan think of? Just like Dal Tadka, they add a Black & White or Sepia effect to it to make it look special but it is still the same lame lamp.

 If this picture resembles someone's mood, they should probably talk to someone to get over it; uploading pics like these would depress others including them.

Fall is here! This phenomenon is more prevalent among the ones living in the US as this is the first time they notice leaves off trees. I don't know what particularly irks their interest but they seem to be fascinated about this aspect.

 The depth, focus and other terms that they quote might sound amazing and wonderful but they should realize that I can find thousands of such images on Google.



Colorful India! Suddenly people find India and its streets very colorful. Never did they turn their heads to peep towards the slums or laborers. These people are busy earning their living and the lens-men are busy capturing their lives, that too in a colorful tone.

With the many photo editing softwares, they can now colorize an old man with his sutta or a rag picker busy with his activities. What is so fascinating about a stray dog or a parked bicycle at the doorstep for that matter? Sometimes they make me feel that I cannot appreciate anything.

The Weapon! Finally, they introduce all of us to the tool which they have been using to drive us crazy all these times. When I look at it, I wonder how beautiful life could have been if they didn't invent Digital cameras in the first place or if the DSLRs costed a fortune.

The craziness doesn't stop with photographs, does it? They have emerged into the era of short-film making now and I don't want to get started on how well they suck at that.

I've used DSLR for a little bit and realized that there are people who could do a much better job than me and some of them were my friends. But the rest of them, like me, still try to force creativity out of themselves even though it doesn't exist in them. People, Live and Let live!