[imagesource: Twitter / @michaelkgwadi]
This past weekend, as South Africans were finally allowed out of the house to stretch their legs, photos showing a lack of safe physical distancing did the rounds.
Outrage abounded, and there was name-calling and sweeping generalisations and knee-jerk reactions at every turn. What else is social media good for these days?
Clearly, some of the people on Sea Point promenade were being foolish, and many were not wearing masks, but it was a bit of a perfect storm.
A sunny morning (once the mist had cleared), the first window of exercise, and people and pooches in dire need of a reminder that a world outside their homes and the supermarket exists.
Reporters gathered en masse, as did those chomping at the bit to have a go at the ‘privileged’, and News24 even put together this catchy little number:
Cool soundtrack. Also, OUTRAGE!
Thankfully, some common sense, combined with less welcoming weather conditions and a dash of guilt, saw a decrease in foot traffic along the promenade, but it is worth looking at how some photos from around the world have ‘distorted’ reality.
This wasn’t the case in Sea Point, but consider these factors before you bang out angry Facebook comments in the days and weeks to come.
You see, some of the photos that have caused outrage around the world are really a matter of perspective.
This Twitter thread is a great illustration of what is often called ‘lens compression’:
Ok… buckle up, have I got a thread for you on rage inducing photos!
Our story begins earlier today and this “shocking” photo of people allegedly not social distancing at Bournemouth beach pic.twitter.com/1dVHFQH6sV
— Luke W (@alukeonlife) April 27, 2020
If you didn’t dabble in the above, Luke points out that despite appearances, the roughly 40 people in the photo above are actually spread out over roughly 500 metres.
In Denmark, similar comparisons were done:
Danish news site reminds people of being skeptical of how news photographers take pictures. Here is the same place, one picture taken with a zoom lense, and the other with a wide-angle lense: https://t.co/lPMJDHXOfD pic.twitter.com/mOSpiFEsDx
— Thomas Baekdal (@baekdal) April 26, 2020
This Danish site, Dr.dk, really drives home the point with these snaps.
Looks terrible! Outrage!
Except, from a different angle:
Another interesting comparison:
Back to the UK for this one:
Hove seafront yesterday.
Same spot. Same moment. Same camera.
Can the media please stop popping to our beautiful seafront and using zoom lenses to give the impression people are selfishly endangering others. Overwhelmingly they are not.
Photos can lie just as words can pic.twitter.com/hj2Ej03PdX
— Peter Kyle MP (@peterkyle) April 27, 2020
As with most things in life, it really can be a matter of perspective.
The overcrowded pictures of areas like the promenade and other popular spots around the country are not solely down to crafty camera work, and to explain it away as such would be a mistake.
When looking at these sorts of photos, though, do consider that lenses, angles, and other factors may contribute to creating a picture that isn’t entirely accurate.
