Prisoners or pictures?

JUNE 12, 2013 – YOUR THOUGHTS ARE WELCOME

When did “photograph” become a bad word?

When writing online about their pictures, some folks will use statements like “I captured this on…”, “This was captured at…”, “My favorite capture of the week”, “sunset captures from my vacation”, “holiday captures”, “best wedding captures”, “creative pet captures” and “candid kid captures”.

On sites where viewers can leave comments to posted pictures, people often write things such as “Nice capture!”, “Cool capture!”, “How did you capture that?”, “Lovely detail in that capture” and “I love the feel of this capture”.

There are many sites that offer tips on how to “capture” a winning photo, how to “capture” the perfect picture and how to “capture” your children.

Some professional photographers charge a fee for “digital captures”. Some photographers even use the word “capture” in their business name.

Capture – to take by force, to take prisoner, to seize, to gain control of.

Maybe it’s just me but I find the use of “capture” to be misguided, trivializing and maybe even insulting. Would anyone look at an Ansel Adams photograph and exclaim, “Nice capture!”

Perhaps some people’s understanding or appreciation of photography is somewhat lacking in the digital age. Maybe they think photography is like reaching into a fast-moving river and trying to pull out something interesting before it swims away.

Cameras don’t capture anything. They collect.