Coyote and bear that had been photographed at midnight.
Imo 撮影された is in passive form because the writer themselves didn’t directly record/photograph the scene. If it was 撮影した, it would sound like the writer was physically holding the camera/intentionally going out of their way to record the scene.
Basically, I think it’s the difference between between “The coyote and badger were recorded doing so-and-so” VS “ **I** recorded the coyote and badger doing so-and-so”
This is what’s considered “standard” passive; it’s used the same way and serves exactly the same purpose as the passive as it’s used in English. The focus isn’t on the agent (i.e. whoever took the photo) but on the fact that the coyote and badger that *were photographed* (<- note this English expression is passive, just like the Japanese).
There is a type of passive in Japanese (often described as the “adversative passive”) that doesn’t really correspond to the passive as it’s used in English, but this isn’t that. This is the same sort of passive as “The Eiffel Tower *was built* in 1887.”
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Coyote and bear that had been photographed at midnight.
Imo 撮影された is in passive form because the writer themselves didn’t directly record/photograph the scene.
If it was 撮影した, it would sound like the writer was physically holding the camera/intentionally going out of their way to record the scene.
Basically, I think it’s the difference between between “The coyote and badger were recorded doing so-and-so”
VS “ **I** recorded the coyote and badger doing so-and-so”
This is what’s considered “standard” passive; it’s used the same way and serves exactly the same purpose as the passive as it’s used in English. The focus isn’t on the agent (i.e. whoever took the photo) but on the fact that the coyote and badger that *were photographed* (<- note this English expression is passive, just like the Japanese).
There is a type of passive in Japanese (often described as the “adversative passive”) that doesn’t really correspond to the passive as it’s used in English, but this isn’t that. This is the same sort of passive as “The Eiffel Tower *was built* in 1887.”