Picture perfect

Every other morning, I ride past a group of tourists at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre – a picturesque world heritage building.

When given a few minutes by their guide, they hold up their phones from where they are standing and snap a few shots. Few seem to move much to either side, forward or backwards. 

I bet that they all end up with almost the identical visual memory – a snap of the dome, more or less from the same angle.

As would these museum visitors with the Mona Lisa.  

There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with lots of people having the same shot, from the same angle. If you visit Sydney as a tourist, you end up snapping the Harbour Bridge. Hanoi - Hoan Kiem Lake. New York - the Statue of Liberty. Istanbul - the Hagia Sophia. 

But right angles are for maths. There are so many more to explore in photography and in facilitation.

There is so much overlap between photography and facilitation that a new word has been coined - #Facilitography. 

Facilitation is an art, so when you’re trying to understand how it ‘works’, how to do it better, it’s helpful to use analogies from another art form, like street photography.

My question this week is about your preference as a facilitator. Do you think you facilitate like a package tourist or a street photographer? Or somewhere in between? 

I am on constant alert to avoid facilitating like a package tourist might take photos.

🤔  Am I designing activities from one angle or viewpoint? 

🤔 Have I really thought about who might be in the room and what they care about?

🤔 Am I just going through the motions?

🤔 Am I doing what the client expects – because it’s easy?

🤔 Am I doing what the group expects – because they feel comfortable?

So, for this week’s #Facilitography exercise:

📷 What’s the most photographed landmark in your city or town? It could be a building, statue, location or view. 

📷 Take two photos. 

1. One like a ‘package tourist’ might take. One that you would ‘expect’ to see.
2. Another that shows the same landmark from a completely different angle or perspective. What’s revealed?  

📷 Take this pair of photos every day for a week. Of the same landmark or of different ones.

📷 Share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag it #Facilitography.

If you’d like to work together, here are 3 ways to get started:

1. Join me for an introduction to #Facilitography - only three left this summer, 5.30pm – 7pm, every fortnight, in the heart of Melbourne:
☐ 26 February
☐ 11 & 25 March

Details and book

2. Get a copy of my Insights Paper, Read the room like a street photographer
It’s about why reading the room is vital for productive conversations and how to get better at reading the room with the help of your phone. Comment below and I’ll send it to you.

3. Want to run through your workshop design with me?
Comment below and we'll book a time.