The Many Faces of Many Faces

Some pics of people I know...

Don't know why, but I love collages of people...been making them since I was a kid. Hard thing is when I want to take pictures of people they throw up a hand (strangely enough their right one....) and shy away!

This happens wherever I've been...America, Japan, Australia, and other places. Of course, not everyone has the "shy-n-fly" reaction, but it's nonetheless interesting that personality types transcend countries and culture. Usually I end up making some dopey excuse in order to take their picture. It's the hardest thing for photographers I've learned (and read about)...taking pictures of people. I asked Michael Yamashita (of National Geographic fame) about this very thing and he gave me an answer that was, well, unoriginal. "Try to be as kind and polite about it. Ask their permission and get comfortable with them...then, shoot away." Or something like that... I guess this is better than shoving a camera in someone's face and clicking.

The other day I was eating lunch at a hawker center (food court for the uninitiated) and I saw a cockroach chilling out right next to me on the ground. It didn't phase me. I kept eating. Before this I had ordered Chinese mixed vegetables from a stall with a man who served me my food from his wickedly bandaged hand that looked like it had been burned...the blood and pus was coming through his bandages so bad it was as if he didn't have any bandage on at all. And he was serving people the entire lunch with that hand.

I hope I'm not losing a sense of general hygiene, but I'm becoming numb to another perception and/or interpretation of what cleanliness means. For example, I never imagined that spitting on a bus (especially while sitting next to someone) would be considered fine. Or even blowing one's nose onto the street (yes, you read that right...onto) is quite ok. Sure, in America we blow our nose in public, but usually "it" ends up in a tissue. Suppose the ground is as good as any other place...haha. In Japan, brushing one's teeth after a meal in the kitchen sink (the common office or school sink, mind you) is normal, as is clipping one's toenails in the office. In America and Singapore you can start eating anytime you get your food when you're at a restaurant or something. In Japan, no one touches the food until everyone has been served. In Singapore, lots of young guys have mohawks for hair-dos. In America, that's just plain weird.

Having experiences like this does not allow one to live as though their way is right or another's way is wrong. People are different. I've had the priviledge to sit in the company of many different people from all over the world and it's so interesting: everyone thinks their way of doing things is either the best or the only way of doing it. At times I try to throw in how I or another friend of mine thinks or does things. The reaction is usually the same...one of raised left-eyebrows. I grant people their right to have such opinions because, for the most part, if you haven't traveled or lived outside of your "environment" then of course your viewpoint will be one-sided. This too has been something I've learned to accept about people over the years. Interestingly, many of my Japanese friends who had traveled outside of Japan for several years saw life and Japanese culture in a totally different light than those who've never left the island.
It's like the public transportation here in Singapore. I try in the wisest manner to explain the joys and freedom of having one's own car as opposed to having to wait and take a bus or train...but more than naught I stop the conversation prematurely. If you don't even know how to drive, how could you appreciate it?

Sooo...what's the moral of all this rambling (when I should be working on my photography lessons for the kids!)? Respect, respect, respect. Adjust, adjust, adjust. Accept, Accept, Accept. Uphold, uphold, uphold.

Respect others as you would want them to respect you.
("I don't want people to clip their toenails in front of my face while eating lunch, so I don't do it.")

Adjust your perspective and/or actions IN LOVE based on whatever situation you find yourself in.
("This isn't my house or culture, so go ahead and clip until your heart is content! I'll even get the garbage can for ya...")

Accept people and their ways even if you don't have the luxury of understanding.
("Hey, I have toenails too...I know we all need to let them know who's boss now and then...even if that means clipping them as loud as you can...")

Uphold your own personal convictions and standards regardless...do not compromise those values and standards you feel are a part of your person. ("...but I still ain't gonna clip those babies in full view of everybody in the office.")

Well, this isn't really well written...at least not as much as I want it to be. I'm rushing...back to work!

peace-
-db