More Than an Observer - Witnessing

With a camera separating our eyes (and body) from the subject, its often easy to be a dispassionate observer of our world. Yet there are times when we become engaged not just in the creation of a photograph, but in the setting or event that we are witnessing.

Photographer Ed Kashi wrote the following about a funeral that he was photographing in a small Romanian village: "I broke down in the church, thinking of how beautifully this man's death was being witnessed. The tenderness, ritual and attention to detail (all the pallbearers had cellophane wrapped new shirts pinned to them as an alm from the family). ... We at least try to create a memory and belief that these acts will make sense and give meaning to it all." (PND News, August 2012)

Maybe when we photograph the Grand Canyon we are merely observers; but when we photograph a human interaction, be it a dance, a or child's music recital, or, yes, even a funeral, we become a formal witness to life.