Privacy

I took this picture of people walking on a beach in Oregon.

They didn't know their picture was being taken.

I took their picture because I was looking for them. I thought they might be lost or in trouble, that they might need my help.

As these people came closer I realized these weren't the people I was looking for at all.

But I'd already taken the picture.

Because they didn't know their picture had been taken, I had no qualms about saving the picture as a scene of the Oregon coastline on a late summer evening. I could look at it years later and remember the good times I'd had there with people I love who weren't in the picture I'd taken.

I love these people so much. I'm so glad they weren't in the picture. I feel like I've saved them from some terrible fate.

If you can't be guaranteed your privacy and are overseen by a force other than yourself and those you love, you're nothing but a slave.