I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window on Friday, and it was so funny to see how James Stuart’s character L.B. Jefferies, a photographer by profession, was ridiculed by his small circle of companions because he spied on his neighbors all day. His spying was a result of his broken leg confining him to a wheel chair for the whole summer. However, once his companions realized that there was something interesting to watch, they were also captivated by looking out the window.
Much like today, many people spend the better part of their day spying on virtual neighbors via facebook, twitter,
& the like. In fact, I sometimes pride myself in being a ‘Google-meister’ (though now I should alter my title to ‘bingster’), & my ability to find anything on the internet.
This is all a part of this culture of information consumption in which we live. There are probably countless photobloggers that are currently stalking around neighborhoods, parks, & alleyways looking for a great shot. Likewise, there photographers that spend their days looking from windows capturing scenes from the daily lives of passersby.
Jefferies asked himself a curious question though, “is it ethical?” He questioned if it is ethical to spy on someone with binoculars of a telephoto camera lens.
