Ah the selfie. No more shall we surrender control of our photogenicity to others. We can shoot to our heart's content, or until we get an acceptably fabulous picture of our naturally beautiful selves.
But what are we missing? As we switch to front camera, what's going on elsewhere? Are we really the most interesting thing in our space today?
I am not a great selfie taker. I always end up squinting or looking angry (although, admittedly that could just be my face). So I decided to play around with the idea and show both the selfie (yes, my ugly mug) and what was going on on the other side of the camera at the time.
Work in progress.

Sainji, India

We're used to 'liking' photos like this one.

But I can't help preferring this one...

No matter how much of a routine you have; batteries charged, memory cards empty, mic on, (lens cap off), there's always going to come a time when something fails, with varying degrees of disaster factor. I think the difference is in how you handle it. How do you handle it? There's always the fear that other photographers simply do not make these mistakes, the classic "schoolboy error". This is when the panic sets in and the internal dialogue goes something like this,

Are people going to see you for the fraud you really are?
Are you a fraud?
Oh God, you probably are.
Give up

Yet it's an inevitable part of the job. Certainly, the most rigorous checks I carry out now are a direct consequence of a silly oversight in the past. Like the time I tripped on my tripod whilst filming the only chance I had for catching a plane taking off in Niger. Or, again in Niger, when I forgot to drop the ISO back down once outside the darkness of the plane. That is, once I stepped out into the blinding Nigerien sun. I didn't even realise until I got back home and could see the grainy noise in all one thousand images I'd taken.

Yes, it was most definitely a schoolboy error. I should have realised something was wrong immediately (I was having to pump up the shutter speed something ridiculous). But I didn't and there was no turning back. I had photographs to produce and made the best of a bad job. In every other aspect, the images were satisfactory so I bit the bullet and got the job done.

And that's all it is, biting the bullet. Even the worst-case scenario of no working camera available can usually be overcome. Use your phone, borrow someone else's. It's not going to be the result you planned for (or didn't plan for!) but it's better than nothing. Once you've accepted your situation you can begin to act and given the fact that you're a working photographer, or anything else for that matter, you're capable of finding a solution.

from the series "Ollos Que Non Ven" - a critical bystander's reflection on the Spanish preferred stock "preferentes" scandal.

For more from this series, take a look at "Ollos Que Non Ven"
For a quick overview in English of the preferred stocks crisis, take a look at this video

from the series "Ollos Que Non Ven" - a critical bystander's reflection on the Spanish preferred stock "preferentes" scandal.

For more from this series, take a look at "Ollos Que Non Ven"
For a quick overview in English of the preferred stocks crisis, take a look at this video

from the series "Ollos Que Non Ven" - a critical bystander's reflection on the Spanish preferred stock "preferentes" scandal.

For more from this series, take a look at "Ollos Que Non Ven"
For a quick overview in English of the preferred stocks crisis, take a look at this video

from the series "Ollos Que Non Ven" - a critical bystander's reflection on the Spanish preferred stock "preferentes" scandal.

For more from this series, take a look at "Ollos Que Non Ven"
For a quick overview in English of the preferred stocks crisis, take a look at this video

from the series "Ollos Que Non Ven" - a critical bystander's reflection on the Spanish preferred stock "preferentes" scandal.

For more from this series, take a look at "Ollos Que Non Ven"
For a quick overview in English of the preferred stocks crisis, take a look at this video

Some of the first available images of a (very) temporary street exhibition this month. Perhaps "ephemeral" would be a better description, as very few are up for more than 2 or 3 days.

There's something great about that though. There's a sense of freedom in creating something that you know for "almost" certain will be destroyed. You no longer have the fear of damaging anything, or even of getting it wrong - you can simply do it again next time. Which, of course, doesn't necessarily mean that you don't do it right. If anything that audacity gives you a heightened sense of creative freedom, which in turn brings out the best in you.

To be continued... ;)