How far to go for the perfect shot?

By now we’ve often heard them. The stories of people who, as they try to create the perfect selfie, risk their lives, take incredible risks and often die tragically. Every time I hear such a story I really have doubts about the evolution of mankind. To die for a picture of yourself? This idea probably wouldn’t have even crossed our minds before the Generation Smartphone. Many people are becoming enraged about such madness for quite some time. Even our team on the Fotogenerell blog once reported about this issue.

But it’s not always selfie-hunters of the Generation Y, who take great risks for a picture. Professional photographers and not only those working in the field of photo journalism don’t have any fear when it comes to taking a spectacular photo. And it’s often not the danger for the photographers but many times the risk for their models.

This was the case during the spectacular shooting for David Yarrow’s #Don’tcrackunderpressure TAGHeuer Campaign. In the final picture we can see Cara Delevingne focusing the camera with a serious and powerful look in her eyes. Behind her there’s a lion baring its teeth. When I saw this picture taken for the campaign for the first time, it wasn’t a big deal for me. In times of Photoshop etc. creating such an image really isn’t that hard. However, as I saw the making-of pictures little time later I realized that Cara Delivingne was really sitting in front of this lion totally unprotected (apart from the trainer of the lion who was standing next to it few meters away). As the photographer said in an interview with “View” magazine, the shooting lasted for several days, and although Cara of course is responsible for herself and most likely earns huge amounts of money for such a photo, I was still shocked. Of course this photo is incredibly powerful and, as the photographer claims on his website, it was a very special moment in his career. But is it really worth risking the life of a human-being? Even if the lion may be accompanied by its trainer, it’s still a wild animal. The photographer and his crew certainly didn’t forget this because, in contrast to Cara, the photographer was sitting inside a cage during the entire shooting.