Anzac Day 2015 – Bogan Gate NSW

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When to photograph and when to put the camera away … this was a question I grappled with on Anzac Day.

It was my first Dawn Service, so logistics answered the question for the first half hour.  I could see others with tripods.  I’d left mine in the car.  Still others were managing well enough with mobile phones.  I’d left mine in the car.

Once there was enough light, it occurred to me I didn’t want to take photos during the service.  It felt uncomfortable.  This was a time to engage, not observe.

Yet there is an imperative to document, to record.

This imperative was evident even on the day when both speakers mentioned the photo they found on the internet, saying it had been taken in the 1920s when the Memorial was first built.  Someone took the time to document, to record.

I reached a decision.  I would snap away happily after the service, in between catching up with assorted aunts, uncles and cousins.  The tripoders clearly had the imperative covered.

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On the radio, Jonathon remarked that not one of the 4000 on Coogee Beach took a photo during the minute silence.  But there was at least one person … Jonathon was busy taking a mental image of no-one taking a photo.  At least his shutter was silent.

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