Cameraperson by Kirsten Johnson

AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF WHAT THE CAMERAPERSON ENABLES For the cameraperson: —Access and a reason to stay in worlds not of one’s own —Permission to behave, ask, do in ways that are transgressive/ outside social norms —Complete distraction from one’s own life —The creation of evidence of experience —The chance to be closer or farther (through the lens) than is physically possible —Emotional connection —Trauma (vicarious, secondary, and direct) —Enhanced influence and power —Sense of invisibility —Sense of invincibility —Magical thinking —Suspension of time For the people filmed: —A chance to speak of things they have never spoken of and hence say things they never expected to say —An invitation to think of a future when they will no longer be alive but what they say and do will be preserved in another form —The chance to see him or herself as a subject (worthy of time and attention) —The chance to imagine different outcomes —A change of status in the community (family, village, profession) —Increased risk to one’s own safety and/or reputation —The creation of an image of self, the distribution of which one cannot control on a global scale in perpetuity —The opportunity to see oneself from a different perspective —A shift in perspective about which transgressions are possible —Emotional connection with film crew —Hope that being filmed can change one’s fate or might impact a situation in the future source: https://www.are.na/block/14711765