Does a 不会拍照的男友 not want to be photographed or not want to take photographs?

Question

I was looking at this article which has the title:

从前我有一个不会拍照的男友，后来他走的很安详…
_{Cóngqián wǒ yǒu yīgè bùhuì pāizhào de nányǒu, hòulái tā zǒu de hěn ānxiáng…}

I'm interested in breaking down 一个不会拍照的男友:

• 一个 (yīgè) = one
• 不会 (bùhuì) = will not
• 拍照 (pāizhào) = to take a picture
• 男友 (nányǒu) seems to be short for 男朋友 (nánpéngyǒu) = boyfriend

So, the person writing the article had a boyfriend who will not "take a picture". I don't know if this means:

1. the boyfriend refuses to be photographed, or
2. the boyfriend refuses to take photographs.

Question: Does a 不会拍照的男友 not want to be photographed or not want to take photographs?

Answer 1

会 means 能，善于, 'able to'.

不会: 不善于，不能，unable to

不会拍照的男友 means the boyfriend who does not know how to take photographs.

Answer 2

Your understanding is without problem.

It could mean both or more.

But in the article you gave, it is obvious that the man the author called to be her boyfriend turns out to be a lousy camera operator, who always makes the author an uglier girl than she really is in life.

Chinese language is tricky, not good for law, but good for game. There are tons of stories of match-makers and fortune-tellers in this regard in China.

Answer 3

(LOL this article)

The breakdown translation is not accurate.

In this sentence 不会, it means 'don't know how' because here 会 means 'know how to do something'.

So, this combined with 拍照 means that: don't know how to take a picture

The translation should be:

I have a boyfriend who doesn't know how to take a (good) photo.

Answer 4

Firstly, I agree to the above answers that the 不会 here means 'not be able to'. It can also be replaced by 不知道 or 不懂 or 不晓得 etc in this context.

Secondly, anyone wondered what happened to the boyfriend? Why did he 走得很安详?! Clicked into the linked article...is that a...poem?

Lastly, yes I wrote 走得很安详 in stead of 走的很安详 as 的 shouldn't be used if it's after a verb. So I was told back in school. But not many seem to care about that anymore...

Answer 5

The phrase is ambiguous as it could mean:

1. A boyfriend who won't take pictures. (as you have assumed)
2. A boyfriend who doesn't know how to take pictures.