Just posted a photo called Roadkill today. The title says it all. Even if it's just a photo of a dead animal be prepared if you click this link: http://365project.org/mastermek/365/2012-02-03.
After three days of hesitation, I finally decided to make a photo. The hesitation was the result of a number of matters. I passed the dead animal for three days in a row accompanying my sons on the way to school. A little confronting and also there was lack of time getting of the bike to take photo. By passing the animal a few times the interest grew and the urge to 'shoot' it grew even more.
I'm fully convinced I did the right thing posting the poor creature. It's a part of me and therefore it belongs in my album. However, only after posting and getting some comments I started thinking about the effect it could have to my followers (who didn't ask for this) and the happy few passing by coincidental.
A total of 12 shots at 365 share the same title or tag and one of them, a dead cat by @adrianlouise, is quit confronting. Funny enough I really saw the beauty of it and I started wondering, what's your opinion about a subject like this?
Never apologize for your art or for where you find beauty. Never, ever, ever, EVER. :) If I see something I don't like, I zip my lip and move on. Easy enough to do.
I just had a look, it's not bloody or gory, I see no problem with it. Even if it was more gruesome then although it might make me go "eurgh!" it wouldn't offend me in any way.
Blood, death and all the grey squidgy bits are a part of life!
While it made me sad, I can completely understand your desire to capture a shot of the little guy. I experienced the same feeling when passing by a dead seagull the other day - simply because I probably wouldn't get a bird to sit so still for me any other time. I didn't end up taking a shot, cause his little fluffy feathers made me too sad for him, but yeah, I get it.
Agree with @beautifulthing , if it's not someone's thing - they can just move on. I don't like the Dr. Phil show. So I don't watch it. I don't spend all my time railing about the inhumanity of subjecting me to it. You get what I mean?
@beautifulthing Totally agree Shelly. Thanks for the reply. I'm not apologizing! Am I?
It was just a thought and was wondering how you guy feel about it.
@mastermek It's an interesting topic I guess because it does deal with an emotive subject. But I agree with @emmar84 for me personally it is all part of life and the cycle of life. I wouldn't display it on my wall, but if it was part of the day or your experiences then I think it is worth being considered to be captured. Thanks for starting the thread!
@pwallis - I have a photo collection of some 240 of the 320 birds that live in my region, all alive bar one. There lives a nocturnal owlet here that is very hard to see and very hard to get lens onto, so when I found one squashed on the road, I had to take a shot. It did sadden me, but it was okay.
@mastermek - Here in Australia, our roads are full of roadkill and when I was killing off my project at the end of December (go back and take a look at how I did that) I was tempted to include a photo of roadkill in my final week. I didn't need to in the end as I had enough ideas for the last few days, but I would have.
I like your shot, I like how the road surface and the angle of the shot, gives me the feeling of movement, so it feels like the roadkill has just happened. You got yourself another follower.
When I was young and using film, I took a roll of photos of dead eagles and dead kangaroos that I found on a trip into the heart of Australia. I wonder what the processing guy thought when I printed off those shots?
I didn't post roadkill but 'Beach death'. I thought it was interesting from a biological point of view - we didn't kill them just for the shot so I think it's fine as record..
@bobfoto Thanks for the follow Jason. I hope you understand it was not the goal of the thread :-) Watched your burial. Interesting approach to a projects end! Also the sudden change of subject in the new year was very intriguing. But perhaps it's because I didn't look back the entire album.
Me too made pretty weird photo's with film but I think those processing guy had seen it all!
@judithg Beautiful capture Judith. No doubt. But somehow it's different, knowing this bird wasn't smashed to the ground and than run over multiple times squeezing it to the asphalt, leaving it all broken and flat and still pretty much intact from the outside... Mmmm. Sorry for this disquisition. Perhaps this death was even more tragic!
I'm kind of indifferent. If that's what you're into, that's cool. I had an acute obsession with roadkill when I was pregnant with my oldest... not sure why, or why it faded when she was born, but I remember feeling at the time as thought I HAD to document it for her baby book.
@judithg "We didn't kill him just for the shot" makes me giggle. Not because death is funny but it would never occur to me that someone might literally kill for a photo.
@mastermek - Oh I find new faces to follow in many different ways and sometimes through the discussion threads, one can find someone who is interesting, and has a firm belief behind what they want from the 365, then sometimes that is reason enough to follow.
And I agree, I think the processing guys saw a lot of interesting shots.
@curiousmomworm LOL! Well in my case I would have had to plan well ahead!! But I have seen photos of hunted kill - I think a lot of people do that if they shoot something . I'd rather just shoot in the photographic sense but I'm not veggie so I'm aware there's a hypocrisy. @mastermek I like to think it died of old age ;0)
Interesting you should bring this up. Last week as I was driving to work I saw a police car sitting ahead of me on the side of the road with the flashing lights on. As I passed I realized he hadn't pulled somebody over, but instead he was standig guard in front of a dead deer. A larger variety of road kill. Always on the look for a different shot, my photographer instinct instantly kicked in. I pulled over praying the cop wouldn't give me a hard time about butting in to his business. Once I got out of my car and looked at my intended subject just lying there, this once beautiful and noble animal...I just couldn't do it. I as I lowered my camera, my eyes met the cops. I guess he saw profound sadness in them. Not a word was said. I just got back in my car and continued on my way.
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Blood, death and all the grey squidgy bits are a part of life!
Agree with @beautifulthing , if it's not someone's thing - they can just move on. I don't like the Dr. Phil show. So I don't watch it. I don't spend all my time railing about the inhumanity of subjecting me to it. You get what I mean?
It was just a thought and was wondering how you guy feel about it.
@mastermek - Here in Australia, our roads are full of roadkill and when I was killing off my project at the end of December (go back and take a look at how I did that) I was tempted to include a photo of roadkill in my final week. I didn't need to in the end as I had enough ideas for the last few days, but I would have.
I like your shot, I like how the road surface and the angle of the shot, gives me the feeling of movement, so it feels like the roadkill has just happened. You got yourself another follower.
When I was young and using film, I took a roll of photos of dead eagles and dead kangaroos that I found on a trip into the heart of Australia. I wonder what the processing guy thought when I printed off those shots?
Me too made pretty weird photo's with film but I think those processing guy had seen it all!
@judithg "We didn't kill him just for the shot" makes me giggle. Not because death is funny but it would never occur to me that someone might literally kill for a photo.
And I agree, I think the processing guys saw a lot of interesting shots.
@mastermek I like to think it died of old age ;0)