January 11--lost toraja

[zyzyly]

when i got up this afternoon
i discovered
i was out of coffee.
i went to Peets.
i bought a couple of pounds
and a new mug.

while i was waiting
i took a picture.

the coffee girl said,
"why are you taking a picture?"
"you can't take pictures in here."

i became flustered
and felt myself blush.
i dropped my credit card.

Comments

[brendamom.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, my friendly organic grocery told me the same thing. I was trying to photograph oranges at the time.
She said, it would be just like going into a friend's house and not asking if you could take pictures. Huh?
I kind of thought this Co-0p was my friend. I bring my camera to a friend's house and they are happy with that.
I am sorry I intruded on the orange's privacy.
And incidentally. goof them and their high prices! Whole Foods, come to Lawrence!

[amicablebitch.livejournal.com]

uh, why can't you take pictures in a coffee shop?

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

oooooooooh well you know, you might be from al kaeda, and maybe you are going to target that coffee shop.... sheesh! paranoid people!!!! :-D

[blues-dream.livejournal.com]

Well, big companies like Peet's, the "look" of their stores is usually copyrighted. It's idiotic, and I used to feel like an jerk telling people they couldn't take pictures inside the Barnes and Noble I used to work at, but it's pretty common for big, soulless companies like B&N and Peet's. I think it stems from paranoia that the pictures will somehow be used by their competition to hurt their business. Don't ask me how.

[amicablebitch.livejournal.com]

okay that's absolutely insane. i mean, i SEMI-get where they are coming from, but really. people get cameras to take pictures. just like you photograph your family in front of a mountain, i think you should also be able to document coffee shop visits.

i am going to have so much trouble in life.

and i've also never even heard of Peet's. i for one am enlightened by this post.

[blues-dream.livejournal.com]

Hey, I have a degree in photography. You're preachin' to the choir, here.

Fortunately, most people at the bookstore were cool about it, mostly because I generally opened with "this is really stupid, BUT ..."

My friend used to work at a Peet's, and he tried to get his fellow employees to unionize. The steps Peet's took to break the union were straight out of my friend's American Studies textbook (threats, intimidation, coercion, etc.). Totally irrelevant to the topic at hand, but a fun fact nonetheless!

Oh, and I am going to have so much trouble in life made me snort with laughter. Thank you. :)

AAAAALLLLLEEEELLLLLUUUUJJJJAAAAHHHHH

[amicablebitch.livejournal.com]

this Peet guy sounds like a prick.

just today i took pictures in marshalls, of a purse i want. and then later i took pictures in walmart, of their mardi gras decorations aisle. i take pictures of food i eat. and retarded bartenders.

Peet's of the world, look out.

Re: AAAAALLLLLEEEELLLLLUUUUJJJJAAAAHHHHH

[blues-dream.livejournal.com]

The revolution starts here!

Re: AAAAALLLLLEEEELLLLLUUUUJJJJAAAAHHHHH

[(Anonymous)]

I took a picture in a Peets today, and posted it on teh internets!

[niyabinghi.livejournal.com]

What is Lost Toraja?

[zeppo-marx.livejournal.com]

It is the fear of tat same reaction that cripples my ability to do some of the photography that I would like to. Places where people get upset, or strangers on the street who get upset at a lens pointed their way.

Of course, sometimes I do it anyway - but it always feels uncomfortable.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

it's interesting how someplaces get uptight and others don't. there is a little independent coffee shop that I go to, and they are happy to let me click away.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

yeah, I know. when I was in baton rouge, i took all sorts of pictures in CCs, and they even wanted to be in them.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

I used to go to Peets when it was just a little place in Oakland. They didn't even have tables and chairs. I just realized that they are a big company. too bad.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

I don't need my caera to use my deadly ray of destruction!

[amicablebitch.livejournal.com]

damn southerners. being all nice and stuff.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

We met a guy who worked at a CCs in NO, who had been displaced. CC's relocated him and placed him in one of the BR shops. When we told him why we were there, he gave us 4 pounds of free coffee to take back with us!

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

And that was really what this was about--my reaction. I was still feeling it after 20 minutes of sitting there drinking coffee, so I started writing about it in my paper journal. I want to know why I reacted in that way.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

it's a type of coffee--the kind i ended up buying. i'm having a cup of it now, and it's pretty good!

[amicablebitch.livejournal.com]

yeah, random sources would have you believe people are appreciative of the efforts. these random sources just haven't met the right people.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

I don't think Peets, in general, is a bad place. They have great coffee, and they take a lot of care in how they roast it. They only keep it for sale for so long, and then they donate it. My friend works at loaves and fishes, and he picks up big bags of it to make for the homeless people.

This was more about me--about why i reacted how i did.

[spiralsofgrace.livejournal.com]

:) I have been feeling a little jumpy this week, and haven't been able to figure it out.

So I can relate to jumpiness/flusteredness.

Your pictures/stories make me smile, everyday.

[zeppo-marx.livejournal.com]

Come to any conclusions?

In my case, I think t's beacuse I know that I'm violating someone else's privacy sometimes. Not when shooting a menu, but certainly when taking candid shots of strangers. I may not be stalking celebs, but I'm approaching Paparazzi status in my own mind a bit.

More so because the people that I often want to shoot are the homeless. On some levels I feel like I'm exploiting them by treating them as mere subject matter. So I always pay for the picture, but I prefer to take the picture first and without asking.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

Whenever I want to take a picture of a homeless person, I talk to them for a while and get to know them first. When I take their picture, I am attempting to capture their inner dignity, and so it never feels exploitive to me.

When I was at the Getty Museum in LA a few weeks ago, I took some pictures of a woman on the other side of a plaza as the sun set. My friend and I were later looking at them in the tram, and I said, "look, she's picking her nose!" My friend quietly pointed out that the woman was sitting right next to her.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

I am glad they make you smile!

[daily-in-la.livejournal.com]

Hilarious

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

It was so funny--you should have seen it!

[goofpumpkin.livejournal.com]

when were you at the Getty? I was there last month.

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

it was some time last month--right after christmas. there was a great photojournalism exhibit--did you see it?

[goofpumpkin.livejournal.com]

oh, great, i hope that wasn't ME picking my nose!!! lol

[lowflyingsquab.livejournal.com]

are you tall and blonde, with a long finger?