People Change Their Behavior Around Cameras – Episode 55

Summary: Gotta start off with two quick notes: first, we apologize for this coming out a day late. Second, there were some technical issues with Skype when we recorded and, as you'll hear, there are a few times throughout the show where the flow gets interrupted. Okay, now on to the show. It's Tony's turn to choose the topic and he comes up with something we hadn't thought of before: how do peoples' behavior change when they see  a camera? And have behaviors changed now that cameras (and smart phones, etc.) have become so commonplace in our society? Are people more guarded or more open? Are they hesitatnt about where those pictures may end up or do they care? Does it matter whether it's a professional or an amateur who is taking the picture? A lot of disagreement in today's show and it makes for some good stuff. And make sure you tell us in the comments section whether you think you change your behavior when you see a camera. Or have you noticed a change in how people react over the past 5, 10, 20 years? And should we have named this episode Babies and Bot Flies and Larvae, Oh My? Our Artists Our photographer is Ian Ruhter. Rob first learned of his work after watching the video, Silver and Light. You can also click on the picture to launch the video and it's worthwhile watching. Ian not only is an accomplished photographer in his own right, but he makes his own wet plates and does all of his development; on plates much larger than we're used to. In this age of digital photography and knowing we can make as many copies as we could ever need from the file, wet plate photography is awe-inspiring. There are no files, there are no negatives. The plate is the only copy of the photograph that exists. Not a lot of room for error and that makes Ian Ruhter a true artist. Leonardo da Vinci is our "other" artist. Not much to say other than a true visionary who continues to influence our society to this day. The da Vinci Code may have made him a legend but Hudson Hawk balances that out. "Is looking like a constipated warthog a prerequisite for getting a job in the art world?"