"Stranger with a Camera"

In Elizabeth Barret’s documentary, “Stranger with a Camera”, she brings into her home, the depths of the Appalachian Mountains in a Kentucky coal mining town. Barret writes a fair representation of two people one from the outside and the other a hard working proud local. Hugh O’Connor was a successful Canadian filmmaker who traveled the world to do documentaries, was asked to go into Appalachia in order to capture the culture that resided. Hobart Ison a local in the Appalachian town stood on the other side of the camera. But Ison never wanted to be captured on film; he didn’t want to be embarrassed across the nation being branded living poor and miserable lives. "I had to do it. What would he have done to me picture-wise and all?” said Ison after shooting and killing O’Connor. O’Connor took his camera and his crew to a piece of Ison’s property being rented by Mason Eldridge. O’Connor stopped by the house after seeing Eldridge in a rocking chair with his baby girl. After kindly asking and getting permission from Eldridge whether he could film him or not, O’Connor began filming. Meanwhile a local woman called and informed Ison. Ison came and Fired to warning shots. While O’Connor was caring his camera to his car he was shot down. Elizabeth Barret as a child grew up in the town while the murder occurred. When filming it was Barret’s goal to provide a film of both sides. To provide the reasons why Ison did what he did, and whether it was necessary. She was attempting to create a film of understanding and closure to the incident. She asks the question, "As someone who lives here, I have an instinct to protect my community from those who would harm it. What are the responsibilities of any of us who take the images of other people and put them to our own uses?" By asking this question she searches for the right and wrong of both sides. Should O’Connor have never gone there to film because it was seen as demeaning by the locals? Should Ison not have killed an innocent man just ignorant of Ison’s property and feelings toward him? People should have the right to film and document but at what point is it enough? At what point is it violating privacy? I believe the situation was just extremely unlucky. People should always allow to document but they first must have approval from the people whom he is documenting. O’Connor being a gentleman went through these motions. However he assumed the property belonged to Eldridge and that’s where things fell through. I think an important lesson to filmmakers must be taken from this story, when filming someone culture they should not just ask for permission but they should also go further to ask what the people of the culture think of his filming. Ison was greatly mistaken to think he had the right to take anyone life however if O’Connor had known or have researched what the people of the town thought of the documentary before filming the result could have been easily avoidable.