Those who have been following this blog for some time – actually, anyone – might have noticed a deterioration in the quality of the technical input: no bursts of video, a distinctively blue tinge to the photos. This is largely explained by the long distance nature of my technical support, ie my wife Val, back in England. Nonetheless, I struggle on, though to be honest it is something of a miracle that the blog gets posted at all, given the dismal level of my technical knowledge (allied to a certain wilful, stubborn denial.) I have arrived here armed with a scribbled idiot sheet, and mostly that does seem to do the job, but should anything slightly different be required – or, worse, should something go wrong – I am helpless (as well as hapless and hopeless.) Val can and does supply some post-production editing, but some things just can’t be done remotely.
Like the camera, for example. Why it should suddenly have decided to apply a blue wash to every shot, I have no idea. I just have to hope that it’s because I have inadvertently pressed a button I ought not have pressed, rather than it actually being broken. (Unlikely, I know – what sort of broken turns everything blue?)
There is another reason why the photography is not as interesting as it was at the beginning of the blog’s existence (ie Johannesburg). The same policies regarding putting the faces of young refugees up on the internet apply here as did in Lebanon, and for the same good reasons. Partly it is a matter of an individual’s rights to one’s own image, which should not be trampled upon by the photographer’s desire to add some cute local colour to their social media profile. And partly it is a matter of genuine concerns regarding security, particularly when it applies to vulnerable young people.
Val arrives on Saturday, and with her a possible answer to technical problems (especially the blue tinge.) It will also be good to see her, of course.
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