Go to contents

Voyeurism in the era of candid camera

Posted August. 28, 2015 07:11,   

한국어

A coined-word “Peeping Tom” came from a man named Tom who used to peep at naked women and lost his eyes as punishment. Today, the word refers to a man who has voyeurism. In Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Rear Window,” a professional photographer in a wheelchair peeps through his camera lens into his neighbors. Watching the movie, viewers become surprised to find themselves who savor the moment of secretly watching others without their knowledge.

Introduced in television at some point, reality shows have now become a particular genre. The reality shows satisfy the desire of viewers who wish to watch “the reality itself,” not “the plausible reality.” The reality in the reality shows, however, doesn’t reflect the de facto reality. Actors and actresses in the show are always aware of the cameras although they pretend not to be. The de facto reality that viewers wish to watch may only be found in candid camera.

A 26-year-old woman surnamed Choi was arrested after she took candid shots of women taking a shower at a water park shower room and sold them to a web site. Choe took a 185-minute-long video and sold it to a man whom she met through a chatting application. The man offered her with a candid camera that looked like a cell phone cases, saying that he would pay the price. Choi just saw naked women, but many others watched those women taking a shower through the video that she secretly took.

It can be said that a peeping Tom in the Middle Ages has as strong desire to sneak a peek as the Netizen today. The Netizen, however, seem to have stronger desire as they now have easier way to peep others with modern technology that gave us a very small-sized camera. The eyes of candid camera allow us to watch almost everything that we want to watch. The camera even shows us someone who is taking candid shots of him or herself. The irony was that the video Choi secretly took contained the reflection of her in the mirror and that became the clue for the police to arrest her.



pisong@donga.com