"Picture taken"

by: Group Social EXperiment (Group S.E.X.)

1) The group violated the norm where people are normally not taken pictures of unexpectedly. People tend to get uncomfortable around cameras if they are not “camera ready”.

2)    The group decided to take pictures of random individuals around the Ateneo de Manila University campus to see how they would react to strangers unexpectedly taking pictures of them. The group made sure that the people involved saw the camera which was taking their picture so that the reactions of said people could be recorded. Also, the group tried to make the people whom they took the pictures of were of different employment and social class to see if there was any difference in the reactions. The group took pictures in MVP, Faura Hall, Colayco Pavilion, and Gonzaga Cafeteria. The group was able to get pictures from students we don't know, friends, and working personnel.

3)    Almost all of the participants in the experiment were confused as to why they were having their picture taken. Some of these said participants wondered why they were having their picture taken. Others found the person taking the picture weird and said that we should respect their personal space. One of these people even specifically mentioned to us that she did not want her picture uploaded when we asked her if we could. It was very rare that the participants of the experiment not mind the person taking the picture and there was never any positive response. The group also tried taking pictures of their friends to see if they would react differently. The responses were much more positive, some of the participants even posed when they had their picture taken. Even then however, some of the friends of the group were shy in from of the camera. Probably the people who reacted badly to having their picture taken were either simply not used to this happening to them, or suspicious as to why the group wanted to have their picture. As for the people whom reacted positively to having their picture taken, namely some of the friends of the group members, they probably reacted positively sine they trusted the photographers. These reactions served to reaffirm the norm of people not being used to having their pictures unexpectedly taken.

4)    The group definitely believes that the social class of the people who participated in the experiment played a role in their reactions. The group believes that the people who were in the lower social classes reacted worse than the ones who were in the higher social classes. This could be because the people in the higher social classes have much more confidence in themselves whereas the people in the lower social classes are much less confident about themselves and find it embarrassing to have them showcased. It could be that the people in the higher social classes are eager to show off their wealth and power and the people in lower social classes are ashamed of their position in society. Also the people in the lower classes might find the people in the higher classes, including the members of the group, less trustworthy than people in their own social class. This could explain why some of the friends of the group members, people in the social class of the members, felt comfortable having their picture taken. This could also explain why some of the other participants in the experiment were suspicious as to why the group wanted their picture, since they might not have exposure to pictures and cameras as often as the others did.

5)    The group was definitely excited to do the experiment because it was a chance for the group to do something new that they hadn't done before. Also, it was exciting to see the reactions of different people to the experiment. However there was also some apprehension to conducting the experiment because the group was afraid of some participants reacting badly and getting upset at the group members. This fear actually made the group have a hard time in choosing what experiment to do. The group continually thought of less and less extreme experiments until they arrived at this one because they were afraid of the negative reactions some people might have. That being said, the group did not really feel too negatively about violating the norm of unexpected picture taking since it was not such an important norm and it did not lead to any violent reactions.

6)    It is very interesting to see how the different students and staff reacted to this experiment. There is something very reassuring about people reacting the same way to a certain stimulus or deviation. It is reassuring because it affirms that all of these people, despite the many differences they might have, are human. They all react the same way to something strange and it shows that in times when things get a little weird people would stand united. It is an eye-opening experience for the group to see how these people would react and it also serves as a reflective experience for the group. It makes the members of the group think about themselves and the norms they have come to accept and whether these norms are positive or negative to them as human beings. It was also interesting to probe and think about the results of the experiment in such a way that we could explain it using things such as the social class and gender of the participants. This way of thinking also served as another eye-opener for the group, showing them that things usually go much deeper than the automatic reactions of the people involved.

Here are some shots we got, which feature the people who agreed to upload their shots in the blog.

 One of our friends. He's pushing away the camera when we're trying to close-up on him.

 A student in Faura. He had no reaction at all.

 Student in Faura. She even smiled for the close-up

 Student in Colayco Pavilion. She said it was weird for her to unexpectedly taking her picture

 The Guard in MVP. He was wondering why we're closing up on him, but he smiled anyway.

Student in MVP. He was pushing away the camera. 

This guy works in the Gonzaga Caf. Despite wondering why he was being taken a picture, he just smiled not looking at the camera.

#picture #candid

Group Members: Soriano, Pavia, Samaco, Santos, Dancel