Six photographers. One man. Six stories. Six perspectives.
This experiment by Canon used a single subject photographed by six different photographers in six different sessions. Each photographer was told a fake bio of their subject. One photographer thought he was shooting a millionaire, one thought a commercial fisherman, one thought a psychic, another a convict, another a man who had saved someone’s life, and another was told the subject was a former alcoholic.
In each case Michael, or Mike, dressed exactly the same, though he did carry himself differently to play the role.
Canon’s point is “A photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than by what is in front of it.”
Watching, I could not help but think of how followers of Jesus view people we do not know, or know only by the story we know. How do we respond to the millionaire, compared to the commercial fisherman? To the psychic, compared to the former alcoholic? To the lifesaver, compared to the former inmate? How often to we react to outward appearance, rather than the whole being? Our reactions typically say much more about us than the person with whom we are interacting.
When a person we don’t know enters the Sunday gathering, how much of our interaction is the result of how we frame the subject? Are we eager or hesitant to interact based on how the person in dressed, how they look physically, how they carry themselves, or based on a snippet of gossip passed along from someone in the lobby?
Perhaps unintentionally, Canon’s short video overflows with spiritual meaning. Every church would benefit from watching it.
