I’ve been in the discount and not-so-discount photography business for about ten years now. In all that time there have been a lot of changes, film to digital, instant proofing verse three to six weeks, being able to see the images at once and correct minor flaws-like closed eyes or tongues sticking out.
But there has been one constance through it all, the idiocy of the general public that shows up to have their portraits taken. You can put a sign three feet by four feet that says Portraits Enter Here and then later wander around and find people in a subbasement asking a Sleestak if he knows where the pictures are being taken. He hisses and points them in the direction they came from, as they are the tenth family to ask today.
This cartoon doesn’t need the little sign that says it is for the Gifted, it could just as easily be for anywhere at anytime. Just about anywhere you go wants your address, and a lot of places ask that you fill out a form, this form is often a standard bit of three by five postcard stock with three lines meant to hold Name, Street, City, State, and Zip. It also has a line for phone numbers from time to time. Most people cannot figure these cards out. They ask things like, Whose Name do you want? Who the hell’s name do you think we want? YOUR NAME!! They then go on to ask the same question for every line on the card and often skip a line or two and put the name where the address should be. If given just a blank card and the instructions to put their name and address they are baffled beyond words, even though they ignore the lines when they are provided.
Usually in the photo biz there is a waiting area, a photo area and a proofing area. Rather than going into the waiting area which is clearly marked with signs, sign in sheets and instructions on how to fill out the form, they walk into the photo room while you are taking someone else’s picture. They then want into a proofing room where they are showing someone else’s pictures. When told where to go and what to do, you will go and find them in the company of a very impatient Sleestak waving them toward the door they came in.
