Thomas W.P. Slatin

Not playing by the rules for me, goes far beyond fun and games.  It’s a lifestyle I live in which I tend to ignore warnings on products, read the instructions without actually following them, and generally take risks when I can be assured that there is no actual threat of danger.  An experienced therapist might classify this behavior of mine as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, but I see it as simply examining the risk verses benefit and taking a chance.

We as Americans over-emphasize safety so much that it’s getting pathetic.  I call it The Pussification of America.  Try and think of a day when you went about your daily life without seeing a dubious warning label or sign that stated what, in reality, is just common sense.

The same rules apply to my photography.  I don’t play by the rules a lot of the time, which is why my some of my photos are of places that nobody sees.  In order to get “impossible to obtain” pictures, I’ve had to sneak into places where I probably shouldn’t, ask favors of folks to let me access areas that are off limits to the general public (such as one time when I photographed a CSX locomotive, inside and out), and on occasion, trespass (Tanker Cars).  I’ve even gone into places where I probably shouldn’t have ventured into mainly due to safety concerns (Ghost Train), but if I hadn’t ventured, nothing would have ever been gained, and the pictures and experience of doing so were well worth it.

Ask any great photographer and they will tell you that sometimes they are forced to take enormous risks in order to get the pictures they want, and likely need in order to stay ahead in the business aspect of photography.  A lot of photographers are willing to risk getting slightly injured or arrested in trade for that one perfect photo.

Take this above photo, for example.  I took this photo of a busy alley behind a bunch of local businesses.  In the photo you will clearly see an illegally parked van, a tipped-over ladder, and an unattended box of dangerous goods.  What could possibly go wrong here?  Well, who’s to say for sure; I just stopped and got out of my car to take a picture.  The right thing to do would have been to walk over, pick up the ladder, and move the box to a safe location, but in doing so, I would not have had this awesome picture to help tell the story.

As soon as I snapped the photo, a man sped past me in a pickup truck.  He was in a huge hurry; so much so that he almost hit me as he drove by.  He was too busy cursing at me for standing in the alley taking photos that he failed to see the obstacles set directly in his path.  He then slammed on his brakes, got out of his truck, moved the box and ladder, then began cursing at me for not warning him.

This is an example where I took a risk, things didn’t go quite as I planned, and somebody ended up getting pretty angry over nothing.  Oh, and I did get a really great picture out of it, and a funny anecdote to go along with it.  But the best part of this story is that nobody got hurt.  I’m sure I came up later during a conversation over dinner, and I feel honored that I was able to provide one of those stories that starts with the words, “The craziest thing happened to me today…”

Posted under Photography, Writing