homeless guy

[proberok]

The initial question wasn't answered.

If this was your father, how would you feel about someone taking his picture and exhibiting it?

Honestly, I don't know how i'd feel. But I'm sure i'd feel something like..."well, what the hell were you doing sleeping on the subway steps for?"

To answer ya questions about the photo and what I was trying to convey and all here goes. It was 3:30 in the morning in Coney Island Brooklyn New York City and we just finished spinning some steel wool behind some back alleys and on the beach. We were trying to find a store and I was trying to see how slow i could use my shutter speed with my iso on 100. Shutter was hand held at .5 seconds. Give me my props. (that explains the shakiness) That's when we walked up on the guy on the stairs. I got my composition together, which I thinks is great and I took the shot. This wasn't a photo shoot. This is how street photography is done. You get ya shot and keep it moving. I'm not out here in these streets taking pictures of models or kids playing with frisbies in the back yard with rover. This is real life and if you cant deal with seeing it then.. well I just don't know what to tell ya.

 

[tirediron]

Okay folks... this is getting dangerously close to political commentary; let's keep the discussion related to the OPs image and NOT our views on various socio-economic problems.... kay?


Thanks!

 

[Bender]

Because we deal with the issues in front of us - and it doesn't hurt to feel compassion for someone and not exhibit him to the world - and for nothing.

I hope all of you change but I'm not part of this discussion any more.

People use to take pride in their country, pride in themselves and pride in their family.

Now, the American dream is scamming the system and living on welfare and getting everything handed to you.

I do no feel bad for anyone that won't help themselves.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Two people I disagree with are disagreeing with each other.
My head hurts.

 

[proberok]

why are you comfortable shooting a helpless person and not a non helpless one?

To me, that's the question one must ask oneself. It's not for me to judge the OP. The OP must look in the mirror.

I'm not as nice as you.
I am comfortable judging the photographer as he seems to be taking pictures of the helpless.

It's not so much about being nice. I just have a problem with double standards.
Taking wide angle close ups of the homeless is fine so long as you also have the balls to do it to people that have a chance in hell of catching you and beating you senseless.

Cant say that I haven't taking a picture of someone that hasn't been too thrilled.

 

[Derrel]

The initial question wasn't answered.

If this was your father, how would you feel about someone taking his picture and exhibiting it?

A meaningless question, really. A useless hypothetical, and a pretty weak argument. This sh*+ is "real". This guy is drunk and passed out on the steps of a building in public. Looks to me that his last-consumed can of malt liquor is right there where he dropped it before he drifted off/passed out. He seems to be holding a rather nice cigarette lighter, and his hand and arm seem to be those of a rather strong-looking guy. How about this question: "How would you feel if 250 New Yorkers walked by your drunken, passed-out father on some Coney Island steps?". Or, "How do you feel knowing that your father is seriously addicted to booze and cigarettes, and sleeps on the street?"

WHENEVER we take a photo of ANYBODY in public, and post the shot, we're infringing on that person's soul, a little bit. This is just some faceless, unrecognizable poor soul who's passed out drunk on some steps. I can see this every day of the week if I walk down Burnside. Strawman arguments about "this being my father" hold no sway here. Social documentary photography is not always pretty. We cannot shy away from the realities of the world based on stawman arguments about public drunkenness and homelessness based on, "What if this guy was your father?" crap. Come on, you've got to do better than that!

 

[DanOstergren]

That would mean that photographing homeless people were actually a real problem.

Well it's more of the problem that there are homeless to begin with. True, it's not as big of an issue as the ones you listed but it's still a problem. Even more so that we are in the land of plenty.

I remain indecisive on the issue of photographing them.

I really hold the same position as you do. I just get fired up when I see people acting all high and mighty, better than thou, shaming anyone who photographs a homeless person. So what if you don't want to see it, or don't like it. Most people avoid even going near or even making eye contact with homeless people because they don't like the way it makes them feel, yet photographs like this force you to feel what a lot of people of afraid of. This is why I think people flip their **** when they see photos like this.

 

[robbins.photo]

The initial question wasn't answered.

If this was your father, how would you feel about someone taking his picture and exhibiting it?

Honestly, I don't know how i'd feel. But I'm sure i'd feel something like..."well, what the hell were you doing sleeping on the subway steps for?"

To answer ya questions about the photo and what I was trying to convey and all here goes. It was 3:30 in the morning in Coney Island Brooklyn New York City and we just finished spinning some steel wool behind some back alleys and on the beach. We were trying to find a store and I was trying to see how slow i could use my shutter speed with my iso on 100. Shutter was hand held at .5 seconds. Give me my props. (that explains the shakiness) That's when we walked up on the guy on the stairs. I got my composition together, which I thinks is great and I took the shot. This wasn't a photo shoot. This is how street photography is done. You get ya shot and keep it moving. I'm not out here in these streets taking pictures of models or kids playing with frisbies in the back yard with rover. This is real life and if you cant deal with seeing it then.. well I just don't know what to tell ya.

Ok, so I think it would be safe to say you gave zero thought to this guy or his situation. No real story or thought behind the shot itself, seems as if you took it solely for the shock factor and all you seem to be concerned about here is your "street cred". Believe it or not, that also explains the rather poor final results.

Well, I'll let you folks hash out the rest. I found out what I needed to know. Enjoy.

 

[proberok]

That would mean that photographing homeless people were actually a real problem.

Well it's more of the problem that there are homeless to begin with. True, it's not as big of an issue as the ones you listed but it's still a problem. Even more so that we are in the land of plenty.

I remain indecisive on the issue of photographing them.

I really hold the same position as you do. I just get fired up when I see people acting all high and mighty, better than thou, shaming anyone who photographs a homeless person. So what if you don't want to see it, or don't like it. Most people avoid even going near or even making eye contact with homeless people because they don't like the way it makes them feel, yet photographs like this force you to feel what a lot of people of afraid of. This is why I think people flip their **** when they see photos like this.

These people wouldn't even sit 2 feet next to a homeless person on the train. efohH.

 

[DanOstergren]

The initial question wasn't answered.

If this was your father, how would you feel about someone taking his picture and exhibiting it?

Honestly, I don't know how i'd feel. But I'm sure i'd feel something like..."well, what the hell were you doing sleeping on the subway steps for?"

To answer ya questions about the photo and what I was trying to convey and all here goes. It was 3:30 in the morning in Coney Island Brooklyn New York City and we just finished spinning some steel wool behind some back alleys and on the beach. We were trying to find a store and I was trying to see how slow i could use my shutter speed with my iso on 100. Shutter was hand held at .5 seconds. Give me my props. (that explains the shakiness) That's when we walked up on the guy on the stairs. I got my composition together, which I thinks is great and I took the shot. This wasn't a photo shoot. This is how street photography is done. You get ya shot and keep it moving. I'm not out here in these streets taking pictures of models or kids playing with frisbies in the back yard with rover. This is real life and if you cant deal with seeing it then.. well I just don't know what to tell ya.

Ok, so I think it would be safe to say you gave zero thought to this guy or his situation. No real story or thought behind the shot itself, seems as if you took it solely for the shock factor and all you seem to be concerned about here is your "street cred". Believe it or not, that also explains the rather poor final results.

Well, I'll let you folks hash out the rest. I found out what I needed to know. Enjoy.

All I see in this post are assumptions, accusations and bull.

 

[Derrel]

Do a Google search on, "Great documentary photographs" and this is the result. Great documentary photographs - Google Search

Then, apply the question, "How would you feel if the subject in this photo were your mother or father, and this picture happened to be posted in some obscure thread, you know, one of over 100,000 threads, in some small, small section of the vast internet, read only by photo-buffs who can read English?"

 

[DanOstergren]

Do a Google search on, "Great documentary photographs" and this is the result. Great documentary photographs - Google Search

Then, apply the question, "How would you feel if the subject in this photo were your mother or father, and this picture was posted in some obscure thread, one of over 100,000 threads, in some small, small section of the vast internet, read only by photo-buffs who can read English?"

I never thought I would ever like a post of yours, but I love this.

 

[Derrel]

Do a Google search on, "Great documentary photographs" and this is the result. Great documentary photographs - Google Search

Then, apply the question, "How would you feel if the subject in this photo were your mother or father, and this picture was posted in some obscure thread, one of over 100,000 threads, in some small, small section of the vast internet, read only by photo-buffs who can read English?"

I never thought I would ever like a post of yours, but I love this.

Oh, well, thanks for the back-handed compliment Dan.

 

[tirediron]

Okay... LAST warning. Either we return to a discussion of the photographic and artistic merits of the OPs image, or we stop talking.

 

[Derrel]

Okay... LAST warning. Either we return to a discussion of the photographic and artistic merits of the OPs image, or we stop talking.

We ARE talking about the merits of the image...we've got one member here who repeatedly tried to shame the OP for even MAKING the photo. I do not get the whole issue. Why the hell do we have one person here trying to issue a massive cease-and-desist order based on some strawman argument? Why do we have to defend the right to photograph in public, on the street? Why do we have to defend our right to photograph against another fellow forum member attacking our rights?

We are talking about the merit of this entire CLASS of activity, and we have a self-professed street shooter trying to guilt another street shooter and make him feel bad.

The artistic merit of the image is that it forces us to confront the bad things in the world, and not go all happy-happy and sweep the ugly parts of our society under the rug because some alcoholic homeless guy's kids might feel bad...

This is a VERY serious rights issue. This is not about exploitation--it's about an effort to censor, through shame, the OP's fine photo.

 

[runnah]

I thought the BW conversion was nice.