rocco_7155 Loc: Connecticut/Louisiana

So here's the scenario I was faced with a month ago. We had just left the interactive presentation "No Boundaries" at the WWII/D-Day Museum in New Orleans. It is a hugely emotion producing 90 minutes which involves the audience in the sounds, sights, and realities of WWII. The crowd was exiting into the lobby. I turned, camera in hand and ready to see an aged vet, in a wheelchair, sobbing uncontrollably. His similar aged wife and at least 2 other generations of family standing around him trying to console him. I raised my camera, and before I could press the shutter, I was overcome with the feeling that I was truly intruding, and that shooting would be somehow disrespectful. I simply walked over and tearfully said " Thank you, sir" and we left the area. I know that I did what was right for me at the moment, but the question has bothered me since. What would you have done? Thanks for any and all comments.

seeSAW Loc: Western Mass

It is easy to be an arm-chair quarterback when you are removed from the situation. Rationally it would be to take the shot and then continue to thank the vet. Realistically what you did would probably be as much as I could have done. :|

dooragdragon Loc: Alma , Arkansas

I would have done the same , leaving the man and his family to this private moment .
Good choice.
Pete

Victor S Loc: SouthCoast MA

Rocco, I'd like to say I would've done what you did. Kudos for your decision.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

good question..
but to show your photo in the right place, would have given honor to him. show the emotions of one who lived it..
it put you into a catch 22. for that moment..

SpeedyWilson Loc: Upstate South Carolina

I would have done what you did ... forget the shot and allow the family their moments of privacy.

John Lawrence

What you did shows you have a big heart, Rocco. A picture captures a moment but your kind spirit will be with you for a lifetime. Well done.

John

PS. Even if you do look like Pancho Villa in your Avatar. :D

ziggykor Loc: East Texas

If it felt "right" to you, you did the right thing. Really there's nothing more that can be added. For another to say they would have done differently is conjecture; one only learns what they'd do when they are there.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I would not have said anything, a thank you seems inappropriate to me*, who knows what made this man cry, memories for sure but...

As to not take a picture, I would agree with you but like you I have doubts, it feels like intruding but at the same time...

Then again, if you read my signature...

The picture would not have told the story of the man but at the same time it would have documented the impact the presentation had on him.

I guess it depends on how you look at it so, if the decision you made at the time felt right, it is still right. Often we question the right decisions more than the bad ones.

* I feel shame at times when I know that men die for our freedom and what we do with it as well as the way we are failing these men (and women). I am thinking of all the wars, past and present. I guess I feel small, too small to speak to a giant. This is likely why I am angry during 'veteran's day' where the country so-called recognize them but instead of a deserved respectful silence we get speeches, vain and empty thank yous and end up stuffing ourselves... Sorry, ranting.

rocco_7155 Loc: Connecticut/Louisiana

Thank you all for your prompt replies. I'm not really looking for validation of my decision, what's done is done. But, the fact that it kept popping into my thoughts made me want to pose the question to folks who think about this stuff every day too. Thanks again all.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

I would probably have taken the shot, BUT
what you die was the right thing to do!!!!!

amehta Loc: Boston

If I am comfortable with going up to someone and showing the picture I just took of them, I'll take it. In this situation, I don't know why he or any of his family would want to see the picture, so I'd pass. If it was a more public setting, I might shoot surreptitiously, but this was still in the lobby.

Bobbee

Think back to that picture of the little Viet girl running down the dirt road with no clothes on. Probably at the time, through the frame, that, did not stike the photographer as an Ethical picture. It went on to become one of the most artistic pictures of the Vietnam war. Who knows, beauty, as we all say, is in the eye of the beholder. You may have had a pultzer winner. We are there to capture, not judge.

rocco_7155 Loc: Connecticut/Louisiana

Agreed without question. I guess its why I have always admired the great photojournalists. Thank you all again for the lively debate/discussion. You're all aces in my book.

amehta Loc: Boston

We are always supposed to judge our own actions.

Your example raises a good caveat. If I was hired by the organizers of the event to shoot it, then I would take the picture. Otherwise, though, I would not.