Sunday in the City is an odd time. Mammon's many priests have abandoned it to a scattering of tourists and photographers, two tribes who seem to worship the sky given the way their necks crane back to appreciate the immanent skyline. They congregate around the Gherkin and the Lloyd's building and take their snaps of these strikingly different examples of modern architecture.
Having a job in the City this morning I joined them and pondered about why they were doing it. Taking a photo of a tall building surrounded by other tall buildings from the ground is difficult: the angle required distorts their dimensions and it can be practically impossible to get them all in from so close. Yet the motivation is harder for me to work out. Why try and photograph such endlessly reproduced objects, especially as your own effort will most likely be inferior?
It reminded me of being in the Louvre, of the scrum around the Mona Lisa that makes the contemplation of such an important work of art impossible. I would wager that less than 10% of those engaged in the fight for Their Own Personal Shot of the work have any idea why it's important in the history of art, or indeed what sfumato means. They don't care that the Mona Lisa is the most reproduced image ever, and that their photo Will be worse. Some of them don't even care that their flashes are destroying the artworks around them, and that we all have to enjoy the painting more obliquely, through a glass darkly, to stop their flashes ruining this priceless work - these people will be denied the use of their eyes when my Aesthetic Justice vigilante group catches up with them.
Having a job in the City this morning I joined them and pondered about why they were doing it. Taking a photo of a tall building surrounded by other tall buildings from the ground is difficult: the angle required distorts their dimensions and it can be practically impossible to get them all in from so close. Yet the motivation is harder for me to work out. Why try and photograph such endlessly reproduced objects, especially as your own effort will most likely be inferior?
It reminded me of being in the Louvre, of the scrum around the Mona Lisa that makes the contemplation of such an important work of art impossible. I would wager that less than 10% of those engaged in the fight for Their Own Personal Shot of the work have any idea why it's important in the history of art, or indeed what sfumato means. They don't care that the Mona Lisa is the most reproduced image ever, and that their photo Will be worse. Some of them don't even care that their flashes are destroying the artworks around them, and that we all have to enjoy the painting more obliquely, through a glass darkly, to stop their flashes ruining this priceless work - these people will be denied the use of their eyes when my Aesthetic Justice vigilante group catches up with them.
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