Picturing The Other

Bama Fan Wearing a Florida Hoody
Buffalo, NY

            This is a picture of my friend Tyler wearing a Florida Gators sweatshirt. While this photo was not taken while I was on a vacation, it was taken on the 4th of July this past summer break. I had to capture this moment because Tyler is an avid Alabama football fan who you would think would not be caught dead wearing any Florida Gators apparel. My background knowledge of Tyler’s hatred for the Florida Gators is what inspired me to take this photo. Had Tyler not been an Alabama football fan, this picture would not hold much significance; it was taken from a weird angle and doesn’t really tell a story if you don’t know anything about Tyler. I figured Tyler would not voluntarily pose for a picture of himself wearing a Florida Gators sweatshirt, so I snapped the picture quickly on my phone while he wasn’t paying attention.

            In retaliation to this photograph, Tyler would probably try to take an embarrassing picture of me. If Tyler ever saw me wearing a shirt with any SEC school’s name other than the University of Florida he would be the first to try to capture that shameful moment of my life and upload it to his Facebook. His caption for the photo would probably read, “L 31-6” or “Payback." Since Tyler already knows who I am he wouldn’t have to make any assumptions about me while taking a picture of me. He already has the background information that I am a student at the University of Florida and I detest the Alabama Crimson Tide. However, he could still assume how I would react to a photo of me wearing Alabama attire. He knows I would not be happy about it but I would probably still find it funny since I did the same thing to him a few months ago.

            I don’t try to take embarrassing pictures of strangers when I am traveling. I only took an embarrassing picture of Tyler because he is one of my good friends and he understands the photo posted above is just a joke. If Tyler was a complete stranger, the caption of the photo could be, “The Gator Nation is Everywhere!” implying that I was excited to find another Gator fan in my hometown of Buffalo, NY. However, if I wanted to take a friendly photograph of a Gator fan I had never met before I would probably ask if I could take a picture of them. Better yet, I would ask somebody around me if they could take a picture of me with that Gator fan. I don’t like to take candid shots of strangers while they are not looking, especially if it's on a vacation. I think it can be a bit intrusive on someone's privacy.