Detour: Why can't anyone take a decent picture?

I think from time to time I’m going to write what I call a “detour” -- a departure from our typical narration to comment (or more likely, rant) about a general traveling topic. This topic: photography.

Eric and I have a proposal for public school systems in the US: teach photography. We don’t see why this can’t be a unit in art class for kids starting in grade school. Heck -- the pictures will probably cost less to develop than the paper or art supplies used for another project! And THEN we could avid the EXTREMELY common hazard of the “bad photo.”

Why, why, WHY do people take pictures that center only on US? Public service announcement to anyone called upon to take a commemorative photo for someone else: They already know what THEY look like…what they want is a picture of them IN FRONT OF something. But don’t put them DIRECTLY in front of the scenery, so that it looks like the Eiffel tower is actually coming out of their head (for instance). Very basic: shoot them from about the waste up, put them slightly off-center, and get a picture of the background (including the TOP of whatever they’re standing in front us!) Taking pictures seems like a simple thing, but NO ONE can do it properly. Seriously.