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Picture this
Samina Wahid Perozani
WHATEVER happened to the good, old days when photographs were taken with actual cameras? When all you needed was a fresh roll of film, a reliable black contraption with a lens and you could click away to your heart’s content?
Traditionalists may still love the way pictures were taken a decade ago, but this breed is fast being replaced by the “digital-happy” variety. In fact, given the current onslaught of cellphones that boast of built-in, high-resolution cameras, the term “digital-happy” may sound presumptuous to most of us. Walk into any hip eating joint and you’ll find many young people grinning away absurdly at a non-descript, little lens, tucked away at the back of their mobile phones, as they capture the “peak experiences” of their lives.
Whether we like it or not, mobile phone cameras are here for good and have redefined the way we are accustomed to taking pictures. They are faster, easier to handle and can slip into your pocket or your nifty handbag. It is also somewhat hard to forget them, for there aren’t many people who would leave their cellphones at home at the mercy of their pesky siblings or curious parents.
Cellphone cameras may be all the rage but how far is too far when it comes to taking pictures with them? It is hard to draw the line when it comes to technology but one thing is for sure — it is certainly unacceptable to use them to take pictures of random women in public places. Many female acquaintances have recounted horror stories where they were out with their friends, when a few young men, clearly high on their hormones and their seemingly newfound love for cellphones decided to take their pictures.
Often, confrontation in such cases is pointless for such people, not surprisingly, find nothing wrong with this sort of delinquent behaviour. In a country like Pakistan, where the fair sex remains the object of considerable speculation and ridicule, cellphone cameras certainly give shape to some far-fetched and perverse fantasies. If nothing more, such brazen use of technology for one’s pleasure is an infringement of an individual’s privacy and space for that matter.
“I think cellphone cameras are really cool,” says Sabeen, a twenty-something, single woman, looking for love and companionship. “I can take my picture anytime without having to worry about getting it developed and email it to some of my male friends on chat. It is really a lot better than getting portraits done professionally.”
Sabeen’s friend, Ahmed admits to having done the same thing on more than one occasion. “Sometimes when I go out and want to tell a friend if I’ve seen a beautiful woman, I take a picture and instantly send it to them,” is his nonchalant confession. “Later on we rate them based on their looks.” Ahmed and his friends are of the opinion that it is perfectly all right to take someone’s pictures without their consent for mere viewing pleasure. “I mean it’s not like we are distorting those pictures or putting them up on pornographic websites. We’re just having some fun,” he adds defensively.
There is, however, more to this technology than meets the eye. With the virtual non-existence copyright laws and intellectual property rights in Pakistan, mobile phone cameras are perhaps just what advocates and perpetrators of piracy need. Why buy an over-priced edition of that much-needed reference book when one can just go to a bookstore and save the relevant pages on one’s mobile phone? Transfer those images on to your hard drive and viola! You can peruse through the book, free of charge.
“It is not really theft if you think about it,” explains Usman, an art student who often runs out of ideas for his numerous projects. “I just get inspired when I go and look at different art shows and I want to remember what I see. So I use my cellphone to take pictures,” he admits candidly. “After all, you never know when you may need to ‘borrow’ stuff.”
For those who feel, that this sort of intellectual theft is a bit too far-fetched, guess again — recent news reports reveal that Samsung Electronics (Korea) has forbidden its employees from using mobile phones with cameras within factory premises. The reason? Company officials fear that obliging Samsung employees could easily use this technology to sell business plans and trade secrets to competitors.
Evidently, cellphone cameras are not quite as harmless as they appear to be for the convenience they symbolize also consists of a subversive element that most of us choose not to think about. While one cannot guarantee impeccable picture quality through these cameras, the images can certainly be used for momentary cheap thrills along with “copying” ideas without the consent or knowledge of creators. As with most other things in life, technology is a double-edged sword and so sometimes, just sometimes, “a picture does speak a thousand words” though those “words” may not quite be what we had anticipated.
The writer
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