📘 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!

Discussion

M: Right, dear listener. How are you doing? Are you okay with the topic of photography? So photography, photos, a photographer. And we speak about a camera, a professional camera, or cameras in our phones. So remember, we take a photo. Take, not make. Take a photo of somebody. I look good in the photo. Okay? As for the places where people usually take photos, well, everywhere.

R: They'll take pictures of themselves in the bathroom. I don't mean using the bathroom, I just mean in the mirrors and things.

M: Oh yeah.

R: I just think that's so classless. I don't know why. Maybe it's just because that's not what it's for.

M: But some bathrooms are really beautiful. In some restaurants, you know, in some hotels, the lighting is very good.

R: Yes, but I don't think the toilet in your average club is the best place for this.

M: Yeah, but you don't see the toilet, really. You kind of understand that it's like a bathroom.

R: Well, you're talking about from the ladies' bathroom, in a men's bathroom it might be somewhat more obvious.

M: Yeah. Can we say that people usually take photos in nature? Or, like at nature, on nature?

R: Well, I wouldn't say any of those things, but I would say people often take photographs of nature, or when they are in nature, or when nature is around them, something like this. Photographs of natural landscapes might mean more natural sounding.

M: Yeah. Photographs of natural landscapes. Or people take photos when they are in nature. Another synonym for taking photos is snap away. So people snap. So can I use just like snap, snap away?

R: You snap a photograph.

M: Snap a photograph. Yeah.

R: Snap a picture.

M: Snap a picture. I guess if you're snapping away, it's like, lots of photographs in very, very quick succession, one after the other.

M: Yeah, like to take a lot of photographs, quickly. For example, she is very pleased with her new camera and was snapping away the whole time we were on the bus. Okay? So when I went to Turkey, I was snapping away because Istanbul is so beautiful. If you are from Turkey, we love Istanbul, we love Turkish food, kebabs, çay, and kokoreç. Yum, yum, yum. Actually, it's C2 word, dear listener, so band-nine word. Snap with different meanings. But in this context, we use it for photographs. Younger people photograph themselves more often. So we can use it as a verb to photograph somebody, and young people take lots of selfies, whereas older people, kind of, but older people might focus more on landscapes, nature, and mountains. And that's a reflection of the balance of being social. Social? Like taking photos of yourself.

R: Socializing.

M: Yeah, socializing. And being self-assured. Like, oh, no, I don't need selfies to feel beautiful. I know I'm beautiful.

R: Well, I think it's more like for the younger people, it's look at me, where I am, and for older people, it's like, well, of course, I was there because I took the picture.

M: Yeah. People pay a lot of money to hire a professional photographer or to have a photo shoot, a photo session. These days, I think it's extremely popular, like a photo session, a creative photo session, where you're given some clothes and makeup, and you hire a stylist. And, yeah, all these things.

R: Why would... What? Why?

M: No, but come on, like they give you a new look, okay? And it's kind of, I don't know, emotions while doing this, because you kind of feel like you are yourself, and also you are not yourself because of this makeup, because of clothes. And then it's kind of like, just for fun, you know, just like to have a good time. And if you do it with your friends, you just, like, horse around. You kind of like, yeah. You do all this, you know, just having some fun. And then you look at the photos and you have even more fun.

R: I can't imagine anything I'd rather do less with my time.

M: Maybe it's for ladies.

R: Maybe it is. I won't say otherwise.

M: So some people might think it's pretty trivial. Like to have this photo session if I say that it's trivial.

R: It's not important or serious. I was teaching this word recently, actually.

M: So an upper intermediate word. Trivial. Having little value or importance, it's a trivial matter, and kind of not important. And a trivial problem is very easy to solve. Or you can say like, ooh, it's not a trivial problem, so it's pretty important. You've used this word immobilize, immortalize. Immortalize. Immortal.

R: But that just means capture something as if it's gonna live forever. So you've got the picture of this moment. It's not gonna change. It will last, it will stay this way until the end of time. Immortalize, immortalize the moment, usually.

M: So immortalize, when a thing or a person is remembered for a very long time. So he was immortalized in this film. So we take a photo to immortalize this moment, for us to remember this moment for a long time. And you can compare a photograph with a painting, a really beautiful painting and a very good photo. When you said that it can't be an easy gig. A gig is like a concert.

R: Well, you also have a gig like a job as well.

M: For example.

R: Well, for example, it's usually referring to a temporary job. So I mean, if a band has a gig at a concert hall, they don't play there all the time. It's a temporary thing. In the same way, if you have a gig economy, you've got people doing various temporary jobs. Obviously they're temporary, so they don't last forever, and then they go and do something else. And the same thing with the photography job, you probably wouldn't be taking pictures ofthe same wedding for your entire career, that might be difficult. So yes, it's all to do with referring to jobs. Can't be an easy gig.

M: Yeah, a gig, informal, a job. Get the gig, get the job. But it's informal, dear listener, okay? Not for the essays, so just like in speaking, or like he got a gig as a teacher.

R: Presumably after working very hard to get ready for that.

M: Occasions means events. So kind of like, when do people need formal photos? And Rory mentioned that they usually need them for a special moment, like a major milestone.

R: A culturally appropriate moment.

M: So a milestone in people's lives could be like an important event. For example, marriage, the birth of a child, buying a car, buying a house, or like, graduating from Oxford or Cambridge. So kind of like a true milestone. So when people reach a milestone, they get married, so they want a formal photo or a photo album, for example. Like a wedding, yeah, they hire a wedding photographer. So they, like pay money to a wedding photographer to get this formal photo. Or like for graduations, when people graduate from universities, they take a graduation photo. Also, kind of, they get a graduation photo album. To have this photographic evidence. Evidence? Like proof. Aha, I got married, look. I'm in this photo. Like a passport, like a document. So photographic. So we have a photograph. Photograph myself or photograph other people as a verb and also an adjective. Photographic evidence. And people enjoy capturing a moment. So we've used the verb immortalize.

R: Immortalize the moment.

M: Yeah, or capture a moment when you kind of like, catch this moment, and you just like, grab it. You have it. I got it. Like people want to capture a moment and keep it forever, kind of freeze this piece of reality and put it on paper. Yeah, by the way, how can we say when people print the photos? So get the photos printed?

R: Or we could use both C... Well, is it C2? It's definitely more, it's higher-level grammar. And we could say they have the photos printed off. They have them framed. Oh, it's a phrasal verb, and it's passive voice. Oh, yes.

M: Yes. So if you take your online photos to a special place, you get your photos printed off. And then you bring the photos, the paper photo home, and you frame your photograph and put it on the wall. Frame? Like you buy a special frame. A special kind of thing where you put your photo. Rory gave a very good answer to the last question. So the strategy, dear listener, if the question is difficult, like, oh, I don't know, first you should say, oh, that's a good question. Article. A good question. Oh, that's a good question, you know, like, I'm not sure. And then Rory said something about a camera, because Rory has never had a professional camera, so he says having never used a professional camera. I'm not really sure, for example. So I have never used a professional camera, so we make it -ing. Having never used a camera, I can't really give an answer. Okay? So if, for example, you've never been to Turkey. Having never visited Turkey, I can't really say. Or, for example, like having never...

R: Well, having never driven or ridden a motorbike. I couldn't tell you what it's like to learn to drive.

M: Yeah. What about like if I've never had a professional photo session?

R: Well, what? Having never had a professional photo session, I couldn't say what it's like to have one. I have had one done, though, but it was free.

M: Yeah. Or, for example, I've never hired a professional photographer. So I say, well, you know, having never hired a professional photographer, I don't know what's it like and I don't know why people do this and pay a lot of money. You see? So present perfect, but you start with having. Having ta, ta, ta. Present perfect. I can't really say. And also, you can use the present perfect continuous. Cameras in our phones have been improving. Okay? So they... People have improved the cameras in our phones, right? So they are getting better and better each year. So you can say cameras in phones have been improving, so it's okay to use a photo camera in your phone sometimes, but professional photographers like would totally disagree, because actually, I saw the difference. Like a lady took a photo of me using a professional camera, and then she took a photo of me using her phone, and the difference is, like, whoa... It's still huge.

R: Well, there you go. So I'm a complete Philistine when it comes to cameras.

M: And it's okay, dear listener. You may not know these details, so as long as you say, like, ooh, having never used a professional camera... Yeah, it's like good grammar, and you answered the question, so it's absolutely okay not to know the answers. Just you know, say what you think, say what you heard from other people. Or repeat what Rory has just told you. Okay? That's the best strategy. Thank you very much for listening! We love you! We hug you! Stay with us! Forever, and we'll get back to you in our next episode. Okay? Mwah. Bye!

R: Bye!

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