Dear Editor, How Dare You?

Letter to the editor in the April issue of Popular Photography, from Gordon Padwick in Gig Harbor, Washington:

Why do you refer to "photographs" as "photos"? You're Popular Photography, not Popular Photo. Your readers are "photographers," not "photoers." I suggest you banish "photo" from your magazine and replace it with "photograph." Also, photographers don't "shoot pictures," they create images. "Shoot" is an aggressive word, inappropriate for what creative photographers do. I suggest you also banish "shoot."

With his special talent to find offense in perfectly fine, widely used words that he would love to see banned, it sounds like Mr. Padwick, a writer of technical books, just barely missed his legislative calling. For which we should, of course, be immensely grateful.

Comments

[Steve Ely]

I'm optimistic that this letter was satirical. And so I salute Mr. Gordon Padwick for the shocking cleverness of his wit.

[Nate]

Washington State political correctness and petty offense... what else is new?