Let’s Fight

So I’m casually walking around taking pictures in the Malian desert town of Mopti, as I have in countless other towns in many countries.  Here’s one random exchange:

Me to guy that looks like Mr. T: May I take your picture?
Mr. T, glaring: If you had taken a picture of me, I would have broken your camera.
Me: I didn’t take your picture. I asked if I could.
Mr. T: I’m telling you, if you had taken my picture, I would have taken your camera and broken it.
Me: I see. I was being polite.
Mr. T: You shouldn’t have even asked me.
Me, laughing: Okay then. Have a nice day.

And this is not an isolated case, nor the most extreme. I’ve had guys come out of nowhere to yell at me as I’m taking a picture of someone else who has agreed to have their picture taken, as if personally affronted that I’m photographing people. Or start screaming that I’m not allowed to take a picture of this building, or this car, or this street.

When possible, I’ve defused these situations with smiles and politeness. Sometimes I’ve had to yell back. And move on.

This is not just about photography, or about being a foreigner. I’ve noticed that verbal aggression is much more common in West Africa than in most other countries. People are quicker to raise their voices, get in each other’s faces, or enter into someone else’s argument uninvited.

Is it cultural? The oppressive heat? Whatever the reason, it makes a day out with the camera all that more interesting, and in some ways it makes me appreciate the photos I return with all the more.

Like the guy in the picture above. He was initially upset that I was taking pictures in “his” street and loudly challenged me from across the street. I smiled, went over to him, shook his hand, introduced myself and we chatted for a bit. By the end of it he volunteered to have his photo taken and posed himself for the shot.