What lens are you seeing the world through?

Some food for thought this morning

I find the article below fascinating and I highly encourage you to watch the short video.

​Here is the scoop:
6 photographers, 1 person to photograph. Each photographer was "told a bit about the subject, whose name is Michael. The fictional back stories on Michael ranged from him being a self-made millionaire to a hero, ex-inmate, fisherman, psychic and a former alcoholic."

Each photographer captured the same subject from a completely different point of view and the pictures varied dramatically. Now some said "It would have been more accurate if they were all told the same story and asked to photograph him and see the variety there" I disagree. That may be true if you are choosing between photographers to see who would be the best one to take a picture of you but this illustrates, to me at least, something more profound. It is the power of the narrative.
A couple of fictional lines about the subject changed dramatically how he was viewed. They did ask the subject questions to better understand him but that was within the paradigm of the narrative previously given to them about him.
This is true in everything we do in our day to day lives. How you view the black teen walking down the street with a hoodie is different than how you view a white teen doing the same thing. Think of your view of Muslims, Jews, Native Americans or the person at the corner of the road asking you for some spare change. Or, for my friends involved in healthcare, think of the person wearing raggedy clothes coming into your clinic/pharmacy complaining of pain. What's your first thought? What about the one that rolls up in a Cadillac to your drive through window at the pharmacy and hands you a medicaid card. Could they possibly be borrowing a friend's car? Or maybe, they lost everything they own in the current downturn of the economy and the Cadillac is the only thing they still possess? Their only means of transportation?Most often than not we view them all through a lens and, unfortunately, for a lot of us we have that lens put in front of our eyes instead of choosing our own.
Create your own perspective by creating your own lens. Create your own lens by getting to know the person you are dealing with rather than accept what you are being told about them.
Something to reflect on

​http://www.shutterbug.com/content/lab-pushes-boundaries-photography-decoy#5GPmU2z8HUuJQdkz.97 

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