Core77

A Camera Bag that Lets You Surreptitiously Take Photos: Yea or Nay?

The unusually-designed Cloak Bag has an unexpected method of use

By Rain Noe - July 16, 2015

in Photography | Bags

While the Cloak Bag seems to have won universal praise, I have mixed thoughts about it. First off, take a look at what it does:

Enter a caption (optional)

Okay, harmless enough, right? The inventor bills its design as anti-crime, hiding its cargo from "people who might be eyeing your camera in sketchy areas." That I don't have a problem with (though the old-school New Yorker in me would argue that you oughtn't be shooting photos in "sketchy areas").

My issue with the bag has to do with how people might actually use the bag. In the past few years I've seen a disturbing trend in NYC that I'll illustrate with three examples:

1. I'm out walking my dogs. Someone talking into their smartphone passes me and says into their phone "Ohmygod canyouhangonasec?" then turns, holds their phone out, and takes a photo of the dogs and my legs. No asking, no eye contact, nothing, then they turn and continue with their conversation. This happens to me maybe two to three times a month.

2. Hordes of European tourists walking through Chinatown, where vendors are running colorful fruit stands, vegetable stands and fish stands. The tourists take out their DSLRs, stand right in front of the vendor, and shoot both the stand and the vendor—and are sometimes pretty in their face about it.

These vendors are working, this is what they do for a living. Can you imagine a Chinese vegetable seller strolling into a French law firm, and just walking around taking photos of people at their desks? What do you think the reaction would be?

3. A hipster girl is walking through Brooklyn on a summer day. A bunch of 50ish Dominican dudes are sitting in front of their buildilng playing dominoes and chewing the fat. The girl takes out her DSLR and starts shooting photos of them from different angles, walking around them as if they're zoo animals that she's going to hang on her wall, or maybe Facebook to friends that live out of town to show them "cool local color."

4. I'm helping a photography crew wrap up a shoot at the studio. As I go to untape the background edge from the floor and roll it up—a procedure that requires me getting down on my hands and knees and doing, like, manual labor—the blonde model runs over and takes a selfie, positioning me on the floor in the background cleaning up the backdrop. I guess your involvement in a photo shoot looks cooler when you have someone doing "work" in the background.

My point is that now that everyone has cameras, I'm amazed at how freely people will photograph other people (or people's dogs) without asking, and apparently purely for their own amusement. It's off-putting, selfish and self-entitled behavior.

That's perhaps too much for me to project onto this one bag, which I should assume was designed for an innocent purpose; the inventor's story sounds sincere. And one of my ID professors used to say "Look, if you design a car, someone will use it to rob a bank," meaning we oughtn't factor potential misuse into our designs.

I see his point, but the thought of people using the Cloak Bag to photograph others, without their knowing it, creeps me out. The behavior exists and I worry the bag will just feed into it.

What say you? Should we factor potential misuse into a design, or is it not our job? And do you think it's okay to photograph people without asking?

o

Favorite This
Q
9

Comment

Comments

Frederick Fasola

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Very intersted to see your reaction to this... I very nearly ordered one for exactly the opposite reason. Let me explain:
I love to travel, and as I am incapable of sketching, I like to use photographs to record a place, an atmosphere or a particular scene. Until recently I only had a little pocket sized compact camera, which I could always have at my side, ready to capture that special moment, but despite a relatively good lens for such a small camera, there is no escaping the poor image quality (especially in low light conditions). I have therefore recently aquired a DSLR, (Canon 100D, as it is one of the smallest you can get), and in many ways it is fantastic.
BUT, I cannot help but feel conspicuous, lugging such a large and symbolicly obvious object around with me... Even when trying to be discreet I cannot help feeling like a stereotypical tourist. And whilst it is certainly more polite to ask before taking a photo of someone (which I would always do for a close up or portrait for instance) this inevitably leads to a loss of the spontanious nature of the shot, often defeating the point entirely. I totally get your point about the entitlement felt by some people behind a big fat camera, but I believe that, shot from a respectful distance and in the correct context there is nothing wrong with capturing the beautiful atmosphere of an asian market.

However, I feel very uncomfortable walking around with a red and black camera strap and a large dangling lens, and Ii struggle to maintain an appropriate level of discretion. It's is not so much the idea of deceiving people by hiding your intentions, it's about being seen as part of the instant and not meerly as an external observer, judging you behind the comfort of a view finder. And in the same way as I will generally try to dress in a sober and unremarkable fashion while traveling, I would welcome a device that helps my camera blend in the way I (hope I) do.

Does this make sence to you? Anyone know of any hand straps, or small cases that would fit a 100D and allow me to have it handy? I would love an old fashioned leather shell... Oh and by the way, I didn't buy the bag as it is actually quite large, and seems quite awkward to be shooting with a bag up against your face, and it has a zipped bottom pocket which I can amagine could end up scratching the lens.

!Report as spam
Sean Thackston

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

How surreptitious is it to hold a bag up to your face? I think the issues you're bringing up are more a product of cell phone photography. Like when the hipster girl leans over to take the photo of the Dominican dudes and one of them, pretending to text, snaps a picture down her shirt. That's when things start to cross a line. But I agree with Shane, if you don't want to be photographed, don't go outside. What is it about it that bothers you? The actual disruption to your life, or the knowledge that someone out there has a pic of your bum? I actually love the idea that I might make a large enough impact on someone to warrant a photo. And as far as misuse, isn't that half the fun of bringing your designs to market? You only have one brain. What happens when you allow 7 billion others to find inventive ways to make it useful to their specific situation?

!Report as spam
Andy T

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

I think as designers it is our morale obligation to contribute to society positively and as such misuse should always be factored in.

This being said... design is about compromise and as such there are going to be products that are able to be misused. Should the candle stick not have been designed because Professor Plum might smack someone around the head with it... in the library?

Regarding this particular product... Does it really solve the problem? It takes a camera and puts it in a camera sized and shaped bag, is this really hiding the camera? Not to mention the fact that as soon as you take a snap your disguise is ruined!

!Report as spam
- Rain Noe
  
  Andy T
  
  9 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  I think while it doesn't completely solve the problem--and if you're in a truly "sketchy" neighborhood and don't look like you belong there, any bag will draw attention--but it's probably better than the alternative, which is to fish the camera out of a bag each time you want to shoot. I'm interested in it as a design exploration, or what I think of as the 1.0 of something.
  
  I guess the misuse thing is hard to predict (unless you're designing, say, toy rifles).
  
  Also--Professor Plum in the library? No way. Colonel Mustard with the revolver in the ballroom is so much more baller....
  
  !Report as spam
  - Andy T
    
    Rain Noe
    
    9 years ago
    
    Z
    
    Z
    
    Perhaps the design has merit beyond the anti theft. Maybe the product already exists (I'm not a keen photographer myself) but I wonder if this could be used to allow quick access to your camera in the rain whilst keeping it dry (or at least mostly).
    
    There is certainly some thought provocation from by this design.
    
    And professor plum is totally bad ass... so much so he doesn't even need the revolver!
    
    !Report as spam
Mark Thomas

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

What's so "ohmygod" about your dogs?

Seems like the examples you cited are a somewhat different breed than the cloak bag users -- presumably the latter are trying to be discreet?

!Report as spam
- Rain Noe
  
  Mark Thomas
  
  9 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  Beats me, they're dogs, four legs and a tail. "Ohmygod" doesn't seem to be rolled out with the same gravitas it once held.
  
  As for the examples being a different breed than the street shooters: If you're trying to be discreet only to prevent having your camera stolen, as opposed to being discreet so as not to irritate your unwilling "subject," I think that speaks volumes. My larger question is about where this sense of entitlement vis-a-vis public photography comes from. It really does rankle me to see elderly men and women who have to work outdoors--presumably not by choice--being photographed up close by tourists. It seems dehumanizing to me.
  
  !Report as spam
Shane Johnston

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

From the perspective of a street photographer, I don't think we have a moral imperative to be polite or apologetic about taking a photo. If you are in a public space, you may be photographed, period.

I understand your point though: At what point is photography harassment? Personally, my goal is to not interfere with anyone when shooting them. If they indicate that they don't want their photo taken, I stop. I just don't think it's inherently wrong or disrespectful.

Generally, if you look like you're trying to conceal what you're doing, people perceive it as you ARE doing something wrong.

!Report as spam
- Rain Noe
  
  Shane Johnston
  
  9 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  It's hard to argue with your first paragraph, though I do wish there was a common public consensus on what is and isn't appropriate. The people working the fruit stands have to be outdoors because that's where the gig is, and that means they're thus subjected to the public-space-photography rule, whereas office workers are not. Something about that bugs me; it just seems like an extra indignity to endure.
  
  Also, I think if it were the other way around--if a bunch of fruit vendors who could afford a vacation and DSLRs were standing outside an office building, photographing workers as they came outside for lunch--I think the reaction would be different.
  
  A good friend of mine in college was a confrontational street photographer. It made me really uncomfortable. Like if he was shooting someone and they came over and got in his face, he'd shoot a photo of them while they were yelling in his face. I'm still not sure how he never got knocked out (this was in Brooklyn in the early '90s). Nice to hear you don't take this tack.
  
  !Report as spam