📘 Part 3: Photography and its role in people's lives

This episode's vocabulary

Firm (adj.) - well fixed in place or position.

To snap away (phrasal verb) - to take a large number of photos.

Selfie (noun) - a photograph that you take of yourself, usually with a mobile phone. Selfies are often published using social media.

Self-assured (adj.) - having confidence in your own abilities.

Trivial (adj.) - having little value or importance.

To immortalize (verb) - to make someone or something so famous that that person or thing is remembered for a very long time.

To deem (verb) - to consider or judge something in a particular way.

Gig (noun) - a job that is temporary, does not offer many hours, or may end at any time, usually involving working for yourself rather than for an employer.

Milestone (noun) - an important event in the development or history of something or in someone's life.

To capture (verb) - to record or take a picture of something using a camera.

Aficionado (noun) - someone who is very interested in and enthusiastic about a particular subject.

Questions and Answers

M: Where do people often like to take photos?

R: Well, I mean, nowadays, anywhere they please, really, since everything has a camera on it these days. But places of natural beauty are firm favourites. So you often see people at beaches snapping away, for example.

M: Who would like to take photos more often, young people or older people?

R: Well, it depends on what they're taking photos of, really. Generally, young people photograph themselves more or seem to. So they take lots of selfies, whereas older people might focus more on landscapes and things like that which they find beautiful. I think that's a reflection of the balance of being social and being self-assured that exists there.

M: Why would people pay a lot of money to hire a photographer?

R: Well, define a lot. Some people think any expense on such a thing is too much if they don't really have the money, while others might think it's pretty trivial. Regardless, if you really want to immortalize a moment or something like that, then you'd be well advised to get an expert to do it if you can. The same would likely be true of painting or anything else that's deemed important.

M: Do you think being a photographer is a good job?

R: Well, it's no better or worse than any other, I suppose. Though it can't be easy, or at least it can't be an easy gig these days if everyone has their own camera. They might not see the point in getting a professional in, so if you can get the work, it might be amazing, but if you struggle, it must be rather difficult.

M: On what occasions do people need formal photos?

R: Oh, well, probably any culturally appropriate moment, like a major milestone. I mean, for example, in my culture, it's common for people to hire wedding photographers for their big day. Other people need lots of photography done for graduation. And of course, you need some photographic evidence for identity documents, like a passport, that's quite an important thing.

M: And why do you think people enjoy taking photos?

R: I think it's all about immortalizing the moment, to be honest. You've captured this specific point in time where something important was happening, and it will help you remember it more clearly in the future and show other people. I think that's the key thing.

M: And do you think people will take even more photos in the future?

R: Well, in absolute numbers, probably yes, because if the population is increasing, then more people means more photos, but probably in relative terms as well because people are just fascinated with everything. And so they want to find out more about things.

M: And which do you think is better, to have a professional camera or taking photos using your phone?

R: That's a very good question, to be honest. Well, having never used a professional camera, I can only really guess at what that answer might be. I think, given that cameras have been improving in quality, at least the cameras and phones have been improving in quality over time, maybe it's fine to just use your own phone. I mean, probably a camera or a photography aficionado will disagree with me, but I don't see a big difference. Other people might.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!