The Observer Effect

The observer effect (and allow me to borrow the definition from physics) is the change brought upon by the very act of observation on the phenomenon being studied. This influence is not only prevalent when one is studying the very small, but scales quite nicely into the macroscopic world as well.

In photography, there is also the question of candidness. When a subject is unaware that her picture is being taken, one can argue the point, that the resulting image is genuinely candid. Whereas another could question its authenticity by presupposing that the subject of the photograph could very well be an actress who is very good at having her day-to-day activities 'candidly' captured. I, on the other hand, would like to propose that from the moment we became aware that we existed on this world, surrounded by all sorts of people and objects, that all our actions have been altered in some way by the knowledge that at any given time there is the possibility that we are being observed.

And it's not just the case of adapting a public demeanor because even when you are 'alone', you find yourself performing actions that seemingly require an audience (e.g. singing in the shower). My inference therefore is that none of our actions are truly ever candid because if you are reading this in a less-than-private place, you are probably looking over your shoulder to see if someone is standing behind you.

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*A larger version of the above picture can be viewed here.