See An Accident. Make A Photograph.

I have a request for you. If you ever happenstance come across and accident that I was involved in, and it is obvious that my survival isn’t dependent on your immediate response, take a photograph. Better yet, make a photograph. Grab your 8×10. Use a tripod. Make long exposures so that the smoke looks dreamy. Anything, just make it awesome.

I imagine that a lot of people when stumbling across a scene of carnage will sheepishly take a quick, terrible photograph and move on, if they take one at all. Even though all the human instinct in the world makes them want to stare and keep shooting, they still might feel that their action might make them a douchebag for exploiting my misery and suffering for their gain.

Consider this. My car is totaled and my insurance premiums are about to go up. I might have some broken bones that will never set properly giving me aches for life. My insurance provider may rule that since I had the sniffles once in sixth grade, that they should drop my coverage for rehabilitation leaving me in financial ruin.

The check for my misery is already in the mail. If someone were to be on the sidelines and managed to make a really excellent piece of artwork out of the misery that I can’t back out of, I’d be happier knowing that at least one small good thing came out of the situation.

If you’ll do this for me, than I’ll do the same thing for you. Just don’t try to charge me if I want a copy of the print. Then you’d be a douchebag. It cost me a lot to set up that scene for you.