We should charge for photos

[auld argonian]

As i think about it, I guess that we should be good sports about it. It's still unusual for some folks to see a kilted individual outside of a parade or a festival and people do have a tendency to want to photograph things that are outside their usual sphere of experience. I agree that there should be a line here that people don't cross; they should be sensitive enough to be able to know when they're making a subject uncomfortable and mature enough to stop...but we all know what has happened to that "sense of civility" in our societies lately.

A buddy of mine did a whole series of photos of homeless guys that lived in the neighborhood around his studio. I had to express my reservations to him that it made a good, poignant photo essay but I felt that he had invaded the privacy of a bunch of people who were in no position to disagree or protest. I have a shot of mine of a homeless guy sleeping on a park bench in front of a row of luxury high rise buildings...shot in public area, not used for anything but editorial purposes but I still feel like it was "off sides" of me to have taken it...just couldn't resist at the time.

In the case of those of us who go into the world kilted, I hope that we can be positive about asking to pose with people because it helps put a positive spin on kilt wearing...perhaps these folks will figure that regular guys wear kilts and that they, themselves, should consider picking up at least one for their won wardrobe. It's like I said about going to a production of MacBeth with my daughter's grammar school class...either they're going to show the photo and say "...look at the weirdo in the kilt." or they're gonna say "...check out this cool guy...he wore a kilt to MacBeth...it's so phat...I'm gonna get me one of those!".

What's the line? "You have the power to be the change that you want to see in the world." ?

Best

AA