 What is the author's grievance against photographers?
Just another free soul In his foreword to the book, Lessig writes that you understand your subjects “by learning to see them in a certain way.” I think I’m trying to get a mental image of a person, certain expressions, or what I think that person is about. I’m trying to capture what I think they look like, which is many times a minority of their typical expressions, or their typical stance. So, if I’m taking pictures of Larry [Lessig], I want to have his signature hand gestures, and not just random ones. Some photographers will make someone look the way the photographer wants them to look, and not the way they appear, so they’ll pick the one picture out of 100 where the guy looks more egotistical than he really is. Some photographers are almost medical, and are going after a perfect portrait. To me, uploading a picture that is not an easily recognizable picture of that person defeats the point, which I’m working toward, to try to express who they are. On the other hand, professional photographers usually have a subject whom they don’t know personally, so they end up having to try to capture an image that they’ve created based on who they think the person is or how they want that person to appear. What I’m trying to do is free someone’s soul from his or her image. A lot of people are uncomfortable in front of a camera, or might make expressions that aren’t very natural for them. And if the person is nervous, it’s very difficult to try to see what it is that you’re trying to capture. After half an hour of having their picture taken, people start to ignore you. I think good photographers are also able to disarm people through conversation, but still, it’s difficult to have a disarming conversation with somebody you don’t know, or to make them laugh. Many times people make a face for me that they wouldn’t make for a professional photographer. For instance, a board meeting picture, like the one with Eric Saltzman: that was during a very tense discussion. I’ve found that people are at their most animated at these kinds of meetings, and look the most alive when they are under a lot of pressure, and super- focused. I mean, it would be difficult for a cameraman to be in a room where a board is having a heated debate. At the Creative Commons board meeting, Larry asked me to put the camera away after awhile
 Photographers are too concerned with bending an image to fit their incomplete or inaccurate perspective of a subject
 Photographers are too concerned with bending an image to fit their incomplete or inaccurate perspective of a subject  Too many photographers are flocking over to digital art, signaling the death knell of darkroom photography  Photographers are more interested in personal financial gain than supporting the vitality of their industry  There are too many photographers competing for the same creative opportunities