2007
23rd May 2007
To whom it may concern:
You address your note to Photographers, whereas the 'awareness' you
seek to heighten
is rather among the SNAPSHOOTERS and legions of amateurs to tote around
cameras and various recording devices.
Photographers, like writers do what they do, and if they know what
they do, they do it well. If they be
photographers, they do not take a photo which fails to indicate and
carry with it the significance of the original perception with the
unaided eye. It is the hobbyist, not the professional photographer,
who often finds that the image the recording device produces fails to
capture the elements they
had perceived as more noteworthy. That failure comes from a lack of
understanding on the part of the amateur and the hobbyist. Lack
of understanding of 'significance' and lack of understanding of the
apparatus at their disposal; it's inherent qualities and characteristics
and its' own manner of image making. With better understanding comes
better co-joining of the capabilities of the machine
with the inherent significant elements of the scene as perceived by the
unaided eye. This better co-joining is what differentiates
the work of the advanced and professional photographer from that of the
amateur and simple hobbyist snapshooter.
Your idea of increasing awareness among the unaware by leaving their
recording instruments at home is interesting. It will perhaps make the
unaware aware that they are unaware. That will be a form of some
progress; but only if it succeeds and that is dubious.
With best wishes,
Theodor Feibel.
23rd May 2007
No.
Luke Simon / Photographer
14th May 2007
I understand your motive , however I question whether the act of
taking a camera to the eye is any more or less conscious than any
other deliberate act taken by people in general. Also you appear to
presuppose that one cannot be in a zen like state or in full
consciousness while taking a picture.
I suggest that whilst your intention might be honorable it is
misplaced in singling out photography as an exercise to be avoided in
order to improve one's experience of life, as for many, the very
reason they practice photography is to bring them more into the
awareness of the present and it's inherent beauty; for them it is a
step in the right direction, not the wrong direction.
There are I'm sure, other more worthy recipients of your call to
'stop an act of unconsciousness': littering for example.
kind regards
Simon King

"The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems,
takes longer."
13th May 2007
Sounds like a bunch of pseudo-intellectual wannabe zen bullshit to
me. So what, a couple of travels throughout South East Asia suddenly
changed your life? First, way to pigeonhole an entire region of the
world. Second, you've obviously completely misunderstood photography
if you think its only point is to document and cause people to miss
their lives as they click through a viewfinder. I don't know what
kind of photographer you were, but photography for me, and many other
people, isn't an exercise in pretentious OCD. It's a calling, and
no, I don't go around shooting every single thing I see 24.7. You
are so very mistaken if you honestly believe your little movement is
going to get you much but a lot of ridicule. I appreciate the
sentiment behind your ill-conceived idea, but seriously? A Non-
Photography Day? Good grief.
11th May 2007
totally crazy
don't you have better things to do with your life?
you dont tell shooters not to shoot. it's just a contradiction in terms.
Guy Calaf
Photojournalist
11th May 2007
100 per cent agree with your sentiments.
Mark Leech
10th May 2007
I bet you don't ride a motorcycle either.
Tony Sleep
8th May 2007
BOLLOCKS-I'm celebrating Don’t-Tell-Me-What-To-Do Day on July 17th.
JR.
John Robertson, Photographer
8th May 2007
fuck you!!!
Alexander Birkhoff
8th May 2007
I absolutely cannot and will not do that. And why should I? What the
purpose of this?
How strange!
Paul Treacy
9th March 2007
yay for non photography day!
nice idea. like the way its made people think.
ganbatte
kat
Japan
24th July 2006
I was really amazed by your thought and effort to spread this thought throughout the world
My Experience:
I like travelling and see new places, cultures. But also by childhood I was fascinated towards Photography and somehow got this art without any formal training. After owning a camera, I started taking pictures; though I had the satisfaction of taking good views, but in the end before I go to bed I always felt missing the experience or unsatsified with journey. Slowly Is started making less pictures thinking I will only capture the best views, even then my mind was always thinkign about the view/best settings in the camera. Still I am exploring the way to balance my two hobbies-Travel (actually expereincing the world) and Photography
I am trying to spread this awareness to my few friends who always try to capture 360 degrees around them.
I wish you all the best, I will try my little best to spread this thought
Thanks
Malli (India)
18th July 2006
I have a degree in photography and gave it up years ago for the same reasons you organised the no photo day. That was long before I discovered zen buddhism though. My partner and I run a zen meditation group in brighton www.zenbrighton.co.uk
It's a slow practice and very serious.
Best wishes
Heather
18th July 2006
The idea of the non-photo day must be the most stupid and childish invention I've heard of lately.
Great - yet moronic - work!
17th July 2006
Even my 50 years old kodak 6*20 brownie I planned to finish today with its next film after 50 years of silence....remained incactive as a tribute to the non-photography day..will probably do it tommorow..and feel happy with that
It waited 50 years..it will easily wait one more day...
Charles, Belgium
16th July 2006
I too have had the experience of watching the majority of photographers doing exactly the type of behavior your addressing. And I am not trying to convince you otherwise. I think back to Persigs’ struggle with the seeming dichotomy between classic and romantic reasoning. Photography, like motorcycles, attracts that type of thinking as well. The constant stream of discussions about this many pixels and that type of format and this brand of camera misses the more salient point of why to put a viewfinder in front of your eye in the first place. Perhaps instead of challenging people to not to take photographs on a certain day, (and let me reiterate that I completely understand your motivation for your concept), maybe the greater exercise would be to take only one picture all day. One picture that expresses the experience of that enlightenment that came from immersing oneself in the now, in the moment within the contextual experience of the location the person found themselves in.
I want to recognize your success in getting people to think and question themselves around this concept. That’s the best gift of all.
16th July 2006
Do you have any Southern California events planned?
Thanks,
Ed
16th July 2006
I will gladly celebrate photography on July 17th. I will make a special effort to use my camera all day long.
You see, photography is not just about documenting, it's about expressing one's vision.
There have never been so many treats to free speech as there are today in this world. So on July 17th, I'm expressing myself with a camera.
Thank you
André
16th July 2006
I am very interested in your project and your question
One that i’ve held for a long time now
Why is my experiences not represened by this Photograph I took?
Fragmenting reality
Peter Vere Simmons
15th July 2006
I love the idea and I understand, im in Cambodia now and I havnt used my camera in a week, its been a liberating expereince..ill be spreading the word here
Tom, Cambodia
15th July 2006
And why not? was John Cage’s composition 4’17”? I think so. The Pianist comes out and, opens the piano, does nothing for whatever time is indicated in the title, bows and thats it. The Music? whatever happens in that period I suppose
Prof Michael Carrithers
11th July 2006
This has got to be the most obnoxious idea I heard about in years.
What's next, the Non Photo Gestapo armed with cans of spray paint blocking
up the lens of the next "Cartier-Bresson" as he or she captures a Decisive
Moment?
Jim Colburn
10th July 2006
Celebrate the moment by documenting it…. As a professional photographer I am always on the lookout for new and interesting shots…. Maybe a few of the event itself may be saleable?
I for one celebrate each and every moment with a carefully thought out image where the event is probably better enjoyed and celebrated than by most non photographers. I thoroughly enjoy each and every event I attend, and each and every photo I take… why would I want to stop???
A.
9th July 2006
You have a very interesting idea, but even though you talk about not shooting - you might want to use some photos on your website - it's a tad boring.....
07th July 2006
Love the Idea, already have re-scheduled a shoot to celebrate this wonderful idea!
Justin Leighton
07th July 2006
You are nuts!
07th July 2006
you have inspired me to take a boat load of pictures on the 17th of July. Thanks for the good idea!
07th July 2006
A number of people I know fast on a particular day. Certainly thats ritual in a number of religious or health programs. The object is generally the same: an appreciation of a particular reality we lose during the routine of the rest of the year.
So i applaud your idea. Speaking for myself, I dont photograph every day, nor every week. When I travel I carry a very simple but high quality film camera, like a Minox 35.
I photograph to remind me of the extraordinary or significant confluence of visual elements that rarely repeat. That event can occur at any time and therefore it may justify having a camera with one at all times. Thats the rationale that most serious photographers intuit, but might not be fully aware of.
In any case, I applaud your sensible and sensitive celebration of Non-Photography Day for the reasons you gave on your page
Would that we could have a non aging day. or a non war day
Keep up the good work of reminding us that the Great World isnt only about us. To stop and smell the roses is enough. We needn’t stimulate them.
Bob Rosen
Eugene, OR
01st July 2006
assume that Ms Bland will be giving up photography in light of her philosophy as anything else would be hypocritical. If it's the standard of most people's pictures rather than purely taking them that she's objecting to then it's patronising. Take your pick...
Either way I'll be taking hundreds on that day just to spite anyone who could object.
Yours sincerley
Jim
30th June 2006
At last, someone speaks out. The arguements I’ve had about this with people, telling them just to enjoy the moment. Also the photo replaces the memory, overtime becoming the truth. Thats why I had no Photographer or Video man at my wedding.
Chris
30th June 2006
I saw a news item on this and thought I’d take a moment..spend a moment...to say ill be spending a photo free day. I learned my lesson the first time I ever took out my SLR out. I got completely carried away (as you do) taking pictures of some baby ducklings, lovely close ups, water drops on their backs, sun glinting off the water etc., then as they swam off, I put down my camera and immediately realised that I had missed the whole experience of being that close to these amazing little creatures. Ive since missed loads of shots, through deliberately not taking a camera with me. I actually find that the awareness of deliberately (conciously) not taking a camera, reminds me to let go of other thoughts, thereby helping the moment be more fuller and real. Infact i nowdays only take a camera on a deliberate mission, special light, place etc. and then often find that taking photos becomes the real moment
Jem Hopkins
29th July 2006
How about a day of not breathing.
29th June 2006
I think N-PDay is really quite silly, for me, using a camera forces me to concentrate on details of life, where I am and what's happening. If it doesn't do it for you, perhaps you have the wrong hobby or profession.
28th June 2006
Are you kidding? Perhaps you should pick another field. Every moment I photograph is a celebration of life of living in the moment. Perhaps you should tackle something of more social significance and actually be a solution for a real problem no matter how small.
28th June 2006
There are a number of photographers here in the USA that would like to see your
portfolio .... where may we find it? There are no postings at Brighton
28th June 2006
http://www.crimethinc.com/library/english/seduced.html
Keith McArthur
27th June 2006
I will be off work as a photographer on July 17, but I will be shooting tons of photographs that day. People like you have misconstrued the meaning of Art in such terrible ways. Shame.
25th June 2006
“what uses having adeqaute depth of field, if there is not adeqaute depth of feeling?” W. Eugine Smith
The minimum I can do is promoting your action
Charles Lemaire
Belgium
20th June 2006
I think your idea is the wackiest ever..how about a “doctors don’t practice day” or a “lawyers don’t lie for a day “
anyway, if you are a true artist, you would know that photographers SEE and enjoy THROUGH their camera...not by putting it away.
andreasphoto inc.
04th June 2006
Well Done, you have my support
I think just as you do
I spotted one of your stickers on the tube and it made my day
Mike Gregg
03 June 2006
Over the last few weeks I've noticed flyers posted around London for
'non-photography day'. Last week I even found a postcard inserted into a
photography book I was browsing in the Tate shop.
so, this person 'Becca' apparently goes on a tourist trip with a lot of bad
photographers. S/he concludes that people with cameras do not enjoy the
moment they are in when they are taking photographs, and wishes to prevent
all of us from taking photographs on a particular date.
I encourage you all to redouble your efforts to take photographs on
'non-photography day' - perhaps especially bad ones of the 'non-photography
police' - and tell any cretinous busy-body who tries to interfere with you
or prevent you from going about your lawful activity to get stuffed
02 June 2006
Take it from me, its great. You are gonna get way more way out stuff than this. Infact I think you are expressing a very boring middle of the road, albeit true version of photography
Or is it trecking through exotica with boring people is in itself VERY BORING. Lets work on Living
SO
1. Destroy all mobile phones wiv Camera/Vid
2. Spray Lenses of Surveillance equipment on buses and in the street
3. Open the backs of all film cameras in tourist spots
4. Arrange electronic, magnectic and heat white noise at airports to interfere with holiday snaps
5. Attend weddings and disrupt photographic sessions
6. Storm police stations and destroy all id pics, files and digital (no pun) fingerprint records
7.Close Photoworks by popular demand
8. Make the Brighton photobollocks Triennial into a bicentennial and keep to the scedule
9.Ask descendants of August Sander for tips on burning photo books
10. Hang Tutors of Photography in Celluloid
Keep your fingers out of chemicals and your head in the clouds.
p.s. Enact act of Parliament to prevent anyone in a pubic place having a meter pointed at them or move to France where street photography is illegal without permission, also using English in stead of French, hohihohihaw!
must shut the shutters
Charlie Hadfield, Brighton
01st June 2006
I came across your poster in leicester square tube station a couple of weeks ago. Irony of Ironies I took a picture of it on my newly aquired camera-phone so that I could look at your website at a later date!
But I do have a lot of Symapathy with your issue.
I surrended my camera 10 years ago when on holiday in the United States, realising that I was spending more time behind the lens and less time enjoying the sight infront of me and savouring the moment. I constantly berate my mother for spending half the time at a family event with a camera infront of her face. Simelarly, without wishing to deprive her of any joy, she seemed to forever be sticking a camera in the face of her new grandchild at every concievable moment
Of course, the innane logfic of photos is that having looked at them once, they get filled away never to be seen again..or resurface during a marathon time consuming viewing session. In addition there is nothing more boring than being subject to someones holiday photos. It isa purely selfish excercise which merely provides picture aids to the traditional practice of story telling.I would claim that everyone subject to this slideshow ritual is bored to tears and has to conjure up an enormous amount of pretend politeness and fained interest.
I think the issue of Photography is part of the wider problem of society’s faith in, and seduction to, the power of the image- and it asks at the same questions as one would raise about tv, cinema, computer games and now phones and the internet too
Although I don’t know much about it, I understand that the American Indians had an objection to being photographed because they believed it robbed them of their souls. You can understand where they are coming from
Good Luck with the Project
Nicholas Barnett. Dead or Alive, London
31st May 2006
I am quite taken with your idea for a ‘stop and soak up the moment’ day. In reality we are doing this constantly-for it is not possible to be behind a lens permenantly-but I can realte to your clear and simple persuasion.
as your book list denotes there is an underlying idealology at work: an interest with buddhist thoguhts and practice. I can reccommend ‘buddhism without beliefs’ a lucid account of buddhist thought stripped of religious dogma and ritual. Also his extraordianry account of photography as a buddhist practice: ‘seeing the light’ published in the collection ‘Buddah Mind in Contemporary Art’. There are two sides to this coin, keep them spinning.
Danny Ford
25th May 2006
Brilliant Idea
I always remember climbing one of the alps to watch the Tour de France. It was a 5 hour walk, and then another 3 hours to wait. The cyclists go by in a flash. i couldnt believe how many people decided to use that second of time to take a photograph-(probably blurred)
Incredible! If you like it, buy a postcard
Phil Stead
14th May 2006
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that, I for one, thouroughly endorse your sentiments! I agree that its too easy to see thw world through a lens, and I think we all have to sometimes stop and stare, and capture the moment in the mind.
all the best
Carol