goign to take sum shots tomorrow downtown

just x joey · Sep 23, 2007

i wanan go downtown to D.C. and take pcis of homeless people, ill be alone, shul di be scared? cause i kinda am. but its sumthing ive wanted to do for a longgg time. my longest lense is 18-70mm so, im going to have to get quit close to sum of my subjects.

~Stella~ · Sep 23, 2007

Why would you be scared? Will you be asking permission to shoot them (I assume)? If they say yes, I don't see why you would be worried about it. If they say no, respect that. Offer something for cooperation, perhaps.

Don't forget they deserve the same respect as anyone else.

just x joey · Sep 23, 2007

true, im scared because i dunw anan get robed, and i dunno the city all to well haha

Sw1tchFX · Sep 23, 2007

just do it. you get robbed, oh well, it's just a camera, you can always get another one.

abraxas · Sep 24, 2007

Be sure to let us know how this turns out. I heard of others doing this, but we never hear from them again. I'd sure like to know how it went.

just x joey · Sep 24, 2007

ha....haha....ha... uhhhh i can tjsut get another one, i saved up for a year to get this one that i have lol.

Rick Waldroup · Sep 24, 2007

abraxas said:
Be sure to let us know how this turns out. I heard of others doing this, but we never hear from them again. I'd sure like to know how it went.

Holy cow, that was funny.:mrgreen:

Joey, I do a lot of street shooting. However, I can count on one hand the shots I have of homeless people over the last 30 years. Why? Because they are easy prey and are constantly being exploited. You need to have a real empathy for your subject and shoot with what I call a compassionate camera. If you really want to document what it is like to be homeless then you have to really dig deep inside and ask yourself- "why am I doing this."

It is easy to point a camera and snap away at folks who may be less fortunate than you. It is much harder to use that same camera and try to really document what it is like to be homeless. So what I am trying to say is- what are your true motivations for wanting to do this? This is not meant as a put-down on you, but put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel about someone who just casually started snapping photos of you when you are obviously in dire straits? As Stella said, everyone deserves respect. There is a wrong way and a right way to approach this type of photography.

Once again, just put yourself in their shoes and walk around a bit. If you do that, then you will understand their plight just a little better and it will make you a better photographer and will definitely make you a better person in the long run. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do. :wink:

~Stella~ · Sep 24, 2007

Rick Waldroup said:
Joey, I do a lot of street shooting. However, I can count on one hand the shots I have of homeless people over the last 30 years. Why? Because they are easy prey and are constantly being exploited. You need to have a real empathy for your subject and shoot with what I call a compassionate camera. If you really want to document what it is like to be homeless then you have to really dig deep inside and ask yourself- "why am I doing this."

It is easy to point a camera and snap away at folks who may be less fortunate than you. It is much harder to use that same camera and try to really document what it is like to be homeless. So what I am trying to say is- what are your true motivations for wanting to do this? This is not meant as a put-down on you, but put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel about someone who just casually started snapping photos of you when you are obviously in dire straits? As Stella said, everyone deserves respect. There is a wrong way and a right way to approach this type of photography.

Once again, just put yourself in their shoes and walk around a bit. If you do that, then you will understand their plight just a little better and it will make you a better photographer and will definitely make you a better person in the long run. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

Excellent post. Thank you.