Taking vs Making

A topic that came up “on the side” during this weeks reading and discussions, was the notion of “taking” a photograph. In the presentation that kicked off our first module, this is passed over briefly as a logical rejoinder to Susan Sontag’s idea of photography-as-violation. Put oversimply: if photographs are taken, then it’s logical that we are left feeling violated.

My first thought when hearing this and later catching up with the transcript was “but this logical leap only works in English”. Having been based in Austria for the last 20+ years, and speaking fluent German, I can assure you that German speakers would look at you strangely if you talked about “taking a photograph”. German speakers “make” a photograph (the verb they use is “machen”).

This got me to thinking about whether German and English speakers perhaps thought differently about the idea of photography-as-violation, however unfortunately it seems this is not a topic which has found much, if any, interest in the world of academia. If you’re reading this and you know of any research on the topic, please drop me a line or leave a note in the comments below.

One thing both languages have in common though is the euphomistic phrase “to shoot” a photograph. This ties in much more strongly to the idea of violation.