Eric's Beijing Diary

Got an email from a CCTV photographer who took this candid shot when I was on the set of CLOSEUP. I don't generally like pictures of myself, but here it is, for better or worse. Those CCTV photographers carry cameras with huge telephoto lenses that dwarf the camera size. I would never have one of those. If the camera doesn't fit in my pocket, it is basically useless. I would never carry it with me. I am not a photographer either professionally, or even in any advanced "hobbyist" sense of the term. I take pictures to help clarify my writing. With me, good pictures are a result of luck more than anything else. But there is also the matter of probability. If I have a small camera, I can take lots of pictures, because it is digital, so there is no cost for developing. This increases the possibility that I might actually come up with something worth looking at. It's sorta like the guy who buys a whole bunch of lottery tickets to enhance the odds.