Lesson Learned...

My first year in India I took two pictures that I regretted taking. I regretted both for the same reason. Both pictures were very good, but really, both were “stolen”. Both were taken of people I didn’t know. One was of a little girl, maybe two years old, who was sitting and crying in the street. Her brother, maybe four, seemed to be responsible for her. It was late, she was little, dirty and probably hungry. I was hurrying to get on the bus and stopped for a second and took her picture. As soon as I sat down I regretted that picture. I regretted that in the one second I had with her I took her picture. I forever wished I would have used that second to kneel down and ask if she was o.k. or offered this little one some kind of comfort as she sat, crying in the busy street. But instead, I had “stolen” her picture. The other picture I regretted was of an older lady in a village where we stopped to visit. My “national geographic photographer wanna be” kicked in. I knew this picture of her scrubbing pots was going to be a good one.. it was, but I regretted not going over, shaking her hand and introducing myself. I regretted in both cases forgetting first to love and get to know people.