the predatory aspects of photography

Photography is violent. Photography is power and predation. Photographs rape, rob, steal, capture, contain, control, essentialize, and freeze in time. Still images boil down the mess of human living until one is left with a more or less viscous sap. The better photographs, in my mind, are better at crystallizing the waterfall of sensory input. Like dino-DNA extracted from an amber-bound mosquito, the image traps the essence of a time, a feeling, a question, a desire, and, in the hands of an intentional camera operator, this essence can be reborn, it can repopulate, it can reproduce itself on the fertile isle of human imagination. Rather than giving undue credit to the photographer however, I see the photographer's role in a more humble light. The photographer is at best a dog-catcher. This makes sense if we consider the art of photography in terms of predation. The photographer captures. They sleuthe and shoot. Something loose is contained, something feral is domesticated, brought under control. Skill could matter or it could not. Game could be tricky and quick or it could be lamed and slow. Some examples without further explanation.