I’ve known for quite some time now that my biggest limitation as a photographer is my tendency to sit back. In particular, when placed in a situation with people I do not know I will hesitate to take the shot. Often, this is due to my not knowing what is and what is not acceptable. Since being in Korea, I’ve had two somewhat uncomfortable experiences.
First was Jalarchi Market. Quarters are tight, and early on when I was the only person I wasn’t certain how the vendors felt about being photographed. By the afternoon I had become more comfortable after watching the market for several hours, and had less apprehension about taking photos. Often, time will cure my misgivings. The second experience was at the Beomeosa Temple. This is an old but still practicing Buddhist temple, and I’m extra apprehensive taking photos at sites with spiritual significance. I had arrived quite early in the morning, when no one save some monks were present. By the afternoon, hordes of people were streaming through, and it would have been no problem to take pictures from the crowd.
I was further constrained by not knowing the language. At neither the market or the temple did anyone speak English. Signs were all in Korean as well.
So, two important lessons:
- Learn the language! “May I take a picture?” in Korean is, “I는 사진을 찍는?”
- Get lost in a crowd.
- Learn how to read Korean (see 1, above)
