Than so do mine about you and I will add a few extra ones.
> You missed the point.
No, I think you are the one who missed the point.
> You work in an office, and probably in an office where you have assistants, a receptionist, and people
> to provide safety and security for you to see your patients in a comfortable low stress environment.
You are making assumptions and you shouldn’t since you don’t know what my present and past work conditions are and have been.
> In short, you have all the protection a working photojournalist lacks. While you may occasionally make
> decisions about life and death in your office, I doubt your decisions are based on an event you found
> out about five seconds earlier.
Again you are making assumptions and false ones. Not every dentist works in a safe environment and not every photojournalist is exposed to the threats or work conditions you describe.
> Photojournalists have to make snap decisions. That’s their job.
No. Not all of them do. In fact I would estimate that a good percentage of them do but most do not.
> You give educated responses on topics where you already know the answer.
Not true. I have been part of emergency situations numerous times when I had to make a decision in a few seconds to save a life so again you make statements base on assumptions and false ones.
> Photojournalists do not have that luxury.
Again you speak of photojournalists as if they all were part of one single cohesive group. This is not the case. While there are photojournalists who work in conditions that expose them to threats and to the need to make quick decisions I would estimate that a much larger percentage does not.
> The good ones get very few chances to make their claim to fame and their guess involves a fair
> amount of luck. Photojournalists are only as good as their last picture.
In essence what you say above is that the loss of that poor man’s life is somewhat justified because of the photographer’s right to his ‘claim to fame’ and his need or right to place his work or need to make a living above a human life. This is so absurd I would only really expect it from an individual who started this discussion with the type of offensive post you placed on this forum offending not just me but dentists in general. It is sad that you still don’t get it.
> When did you last make a decision for a patient which had to do with a split second of knowledge
> applied to a millisecond of insight? Ever?
I will have you know that while working in a hospital, being on call and being an emergency department staff member I had the opportunity to save many lives. I will also have you know that there have been at least some 6 or 7 times when saving a life required placing my own at risk but I did it because that was my obligation not just as a doctor who had made a commitment to save and/or cure those in need but above all because that was my obligation as a human being.
This is not about dentists and photographers. This is about people not helping other people. For Christ’s sake, a life was lost. This can’t be reduced to whether a photographer did or did not have the right to take a photo. I’ve stated this before and I will do it again. I wasn’t at the platform so my initial post was (as I stated) based on limited data available from the photo. My surprise and disappointment was caused by the fact that not a single individual made an attempt to save that man. Maybe there wasn’t enough time. But the photo doesn’t show even a single person at least trying to get close to the man to lend him a hand. Why?
I can guarantee from a position of experience that he had a closed-casket funeral. You know why? Because what was found was no longer anything even remotely resembling a human being. Can you imagine his pain? Can you imagine the pain of his family members? Would you like this to happen to any of your loved ones? And you want to equate this to the right to take a photograph and ‘make a claim to fame’?
Let me share something that I feel is extremely relevant here. The following is a quote from the movie ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ with Robin Williams. For those who haven’t watched the movie I would highly recommend it. Robin Williams plays an English professor (if I remember it correctly) that wants to inspire his students to appreciate, learn and write poetry. Here is the quote:
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race if filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!... of the questions of there recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful plays goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the power play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
I think this quote is highly relevant. Dentistry and photography are the things we do. They are important to us and it is understandable that each of us should love what we do and try to do it as best as we can. But they are not the reasons we are alive. The man was denied the right to live. His ‘powerful play’ will no longer go on. He will no longer be able to ‘contribute a verse’. You think taking a photograph is more important?
Joseph
On 12/11/12 11:21 AM, "Jan Faul" <jan@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Dec 11, 2012, at 1:02 PM, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
On 2012-12-10 13:51, Joseph Chamberlain, D.D.S. wrote:
Then, let me ask all a simple question?
My earlier comment about getting an opinion or guidelines from a dentist still holds. You missed the point.
You work in an office, and probably in an office where you have assistants, a receptionist, and people to provide safety and security for you to see your patients in a comfortable low stress environment. In short, you have all the protection a working photojournalist lacks. While you may occasionally make decisions about life and death in your office, I doubt your decisions are based on an event you found out about five seconds earlier.
Photojournalists have to make snap decisions. That’s their job. You give educated responses on topics where you already know the answer. Photojournalists do not have that luxury. The good ones get very few chances to make their claim to fame and their guess involves a fair amount of luck. Photojournalists are only as good as their last picture.
When did you last make a decision for a patient which had to do with a split second of knowledge applied to a millisecond of insight? Ever?
Jan
Art Faul
The Artist Formerly Known as Prints
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Stills That Move: http://www.artfaul.com
Greens: http://www.inkjetprince.com
Camera Works - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/battlefieldparks/front_qt.htm
ArtNet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/jan+w.-faul/
http://www.artiqueunderground.com/artist/69.
