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The Idea That Photos Take Or Diminish The Soul

I always strenuously avoided being photographed when pregnant as I felt self-conscious. A few snaps did slip through though, and I look gorgeous on them. :)
 
I remember once a scholarly relative showing some old photos to me and saying that they were of people suffering from mental problems due to lead poisoning from lead pipes.

It was of schoolchildren dumbly staring at the camera, a look I have seen many times in old photos of tribal peoples. (who do not, as a rule, have lead pipes)

Imagine, if you will, a late victorian rural classroom, suddenly a photographer intrudes and setting up his tripod, goes to take a picture.

all stare in curiosity/pretended disinterest.

Nothing to do with lead poisoning.

If you look at old photos of natives, some are shy, or staring, (action shots are the best compared to simply lining them up in front of the camera) but others are clearly enjoying the attention.

even if they fear for their souls, it is obvoius that not all are bothered.
 
(copied from post in chat)

Someone ( a very old lady actually) brought this pic into [where I used to] work to be laser copied,I thought it was rather interesting and kept one that she didn't want as there was a flaw in the card.
The pic was taken 100 years ago on a Scottish island (Achill? I can't remember exactly) and the note on the back said it was of a woman fleeing from the camera as she thought it would give her the evil eye. Not only is it a strange pic but the flaw (the blob mark in the centre) looks a bit like an eye too!
 
Of course functionally taking a photo it isn't really that different from just looking at someone.

When I look at someone, I use a set of optics in my eyes to project an image of the person onto a light sensitive surface (my retina) and a record of this image is stored (in my brain.) I can recall this image. If I was at all artistic I could even transcribe a pictorial representation of the person onto other media.

Anyhow, I'm off out to steal people's souls by staring at them. If anyone knows where I can get a good price for them, please get in touch. ;)
 
photographs diminish

I will have to find the Durrell short story.It sounds interesting.I thought he wrote stories only about his zoo and his adventures with animals.I did read the stephen king story about the mirror and it is a creepy story.
 
Could the fear of having one's photograph taken possibly be related to a fear that it might later be used in 'sympathetic' magic?
 
Very good point. I still feel uneasy if I loose something that belongs to a loved one. I had this from early childhuood on. For example I never threw the sandwiches away that my mummy made me, in case they'd end up somewhere bad. I rather brought them back home and told her I wasn't hungry.
[ce a bully kept hitting and shoving me [and I just sat there hoping it would soon end], but as soon as her friend turned my bag upside down and my sandwich fell out and she stepped on it, I punched my bully square in the face [repeadedly] until she screamed :twisted:
A teacher had to pull us apart and even though she swore bitter revenge, it never came.]

The worst is loosing pictures, in case people lough or rip them up or do unspeakable stuff with them. Why would it bother me, its only a picture?
But I think there seems to be some sort of link. Almost like voodoo.
 
It strikes me that members of "primitive cultures" who don't care to have their photographs taken must be advanced enough to appreciate what a camera does and what photographs are. In short, they have to realize the relationship between camera and photograph, which is actually a fairly sophisticated concept.

And some Hassidic Jews do not willingly permit their photographs to be taken. Surely nobody thinks of Hassidic scholars as a "primitive culture."

P. S. "Photographs TAKEN." That's the operative word, isn't it?
 
Does a connection remain between a photograph and the subject OF that photograph?

What keeps me from answering that question with a resounding "NO!!" is all those accounts I've perused of photographs utilized with apparent success in voodoo-type rituals, in medical dowsing procedures and even in psionics experiments.
 
What about societies in which the word SOUL is the same as the word PICTURE??
 
Re: photographs diminish

cassie45 said:
I will have to find the Durrell short story.It sounds interesting.I thought he wrote stories only about his zoo and his adventures with animals.I did read the stephen king story about the mirror and it is a creepy story.
Click to expand...

Its why the story seems so out of place in the book I read it in. Your local library should have it (or be able to summon it forth).

-------------
Anyway on similar lines:

No photo required for some Hutterite drivers


Last Updated Wed, 10 May 2006 20:06:30 EDT
CBC News

Members of an Alberta Hutterite colony have won the right to carry driver's licences that don't carry their photographs.
..

The Wilson Colony, near Coaldale, 12 kilometres east of Lethbridge, took the province to court after the government introduced a new licence that must have a driver's photo on it.

The colony argued in a Lethbridge court that the government's rule violated its charter right to freedom of religion. Members believe the second commandment in the Bible prohibits them from willingly having their picture taken.

The province argued the photos were necessary to prevent fraud or identity theft. But a judge determined the Crown had failed to prove that this would likely be the case.

Justice Sal LoVecchio of the Alberta Court of Queens Bench ruled in favour of the Hutterites.

Chris Levy, associate dean of law at the University of Calgary, thinks people with a religious objection to having their photo taken for identification will be interested in this decision.

"Potentially, at least, they have a strong freedom of religion argument now based on a Court of Queen's Bench decision in Alberta to back up their objection to being photographed. We're going to see a lot more of this," Levy said.

The colony's lawyer, Greg Senda, said colony members are happy with the decision. He said the ruling has restored their faith in the Canadian judicial system and the protection of minority rights.

He doubts, however, the ruling will have an impact for people needing pictures on other documents or types of ID.

The colony was worried about what might have happened to its large-scale farming operation if no one was allowed to drive.

Members will have to apply for an exemption to having their picture taken before new licences are issued without photographs. They had been issued temporary licences while the case was before the court.

The government of Alberta has one month to appeal the decision.
Click to expand...

www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/0 ... ivers.html
 
Graven Images?

I can at least theoretically understand standard, traditional silver-nitrate photographs being considered "graven" images, but why does this extend to the DIGITAL photographs used on modern drivers licenses?

Interestingly enough, there seems to be no Muslim prohibition against photography. as such, and you'd think that there would be. At least conservative Muslim websites seem to have a plethora of photographs.

However, female Muslim motorists in the United States have apparently been denied the right to appear with faces covered on their drivers license photographs.
 
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