Photographing homeless people - OK or not?

Photographing homeless people - OK or not?

  • Absolutely Fine

    Votes: 16 61.5%
  • Possibly, once in a while

    Votes: 7 26.9%
  • NO

    Votes: 3 11.5%

  • Total voters
    26
People have to ask why they are photographing someone. Are they photographing for the subjects benefit? Or for their own? Is it not pretty selfish and disrespectful to photograph someone for your own benefit with zero consideration for, at the very least, their feelings on the matter?

We might as well give up on photography then, i expect there are hundreds of photographer walking round New York looking for stories of peoples misery

just because a lot of people are doing it, does not make it morally right. it could be thousands of photographers walking around trying to benefit from the misery of others misfortunes, and i would still find all of them equally morally bankrupt.


Disatsers like this need to be documented for the future
 
^^ that's a different issue entirely. When it comes to the homeless, however, this 'poverty porn' doesn't really document anything of substance.
 
^^ that's a different issue entirely. When it comes to the homeless, however, this 'poverty porn' doesn't really document anything of substance.


You're right. My post has been edited to keep things more on topic.
 
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Its all good if you are cool about. I meet people all the time when I walk around down town. Ive taken pics of homeless people. Ive had homeless people ask me to take their pictures. I have a rule of making someone let me take their picture if they want to bum a smoke off me. Nothing is free. I stop taking pics if people ask me too. Ive only been told to stop taking someone picture once and it was of a cop messing with his cellphone when he should have been patrolling. But people are very interesting and I love to take their pictures. I like to do candid shots and I really like to get the chance to get up close and personal and get a portrait and maybe a story to go with it.

There is nothing immoral about doing this unless you have immoral intentions to begin with. Good people dont take photos with bad intentions.
 
but good intentions aren't always enough. Plenty of people genuinely want to help promote social issues, and end up inadvertently exploiting people in the process.
 
but good intentions aren't always enough. Plenty of people genuinely want to help promote social issues, and end up inadvertently exploiting people in the process.

Well **** happens
 
I should point out that many of the homeless suffer from mental illness or premature dimentia and to protect themselves from being robbed at night, they often carry weapons. From a practical point of view related to your own safety it would be advisable to be very careful if and when you decide to shoot them.

skieur
 
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Sorry this is a long one.


Back in my home country of Australia (WA), taking photographs of anyone in the streets without their permission is illegal, but 99% of the time people do not care if you take their photographs, but photos of children never do it, you will be classed as a paedophile within seconds and the police will be zapping you with a 50KV taser and I am not joking, now days in Australia, taking photographs of your own kids can get them taken away from you if they are not fully clothed in the photograph, protection laws gone crazy.

Now here in my new home Japan, it is a different story, you must ask, if you do not then most of the people will contact the police. I take photos of people but I am making sure they do not see me doing it, as I am normally doing it from a far, but close ups then I ask, so far no one has said no to it. Even the media on TV anyone's face in a photograph or video is always blurred out to protect their privacy if they have not given permission for the news crew to take their picture. Privacy Laws in Japan are beyond stupid any photograph in the street by law if other people are in it, you need to ask every single person, if you do not then if you show the photograph every persons face must be blurred out to protect their privacy and people will sue you if you do not.



Now in regards to homeless (depending on your country) - I would be inclined to seek permission from the person first, tell them why you are taking the photograph, and even offer them a free meal, drink or cash to help them out for their time if they agree to let you take their photography. On saying that I would not use the photograph to make money or for political points or personal gains. If you do make money off a photograph of a homeless person, then I would say you should hand 25% ~ 50% of the money made to them to help them out.


This is only my opinion and nothing more. You do what you think is right.
 
Sorry this is a long one.
ack in my home country of Australia (WA), taking photographs of anyone in the streets without their permission is illegal, but 99% of the time people do not care if you take their photographs, but photos of children never do it, you will be classed as a paedophile within seconds and the police will be zapping you with a 50KV taser and I am not joking, now days in Australia, taking photographs of your own kids can get them taken away from you if they are not fully clothed in the photograph, protection laws gone crazy.

I'm sure the police in WA are very trigger happy with the tazer :)

Here in the US if you're snapping shots of kids at a public playground, the police will certainly question you as well, and likely urge you to move along. Well, except in Skieur's fantasy world where the police don't have the right to question suspicious behavior.

It is true that in the US there may not be any law that would prevent you from photographing little kids, but it's a quick way to being the a prime suspect of every pedo case.
 
Ive just been upstairs and got this book out of my collection American Photographers of the Depression: Photographs from Farm Security Administration, 1935-42 Photofile: Amazon.co.uk: Charles Hagen: Books photographing the poor and homeless has been going on for years

And if you understand all the history of those photos and that event you know it was a massive politically exploitative exercise on the part of Roy Stryker. Amazing and wonderful photos came from that episode, yes. They were taken by gifted and often well-meaning photographers, many of whom became famous. And none of that changes the fact that those photos were ordered and used by Stryker as political propaganda. Look into the case history of the most famous of those photos "Migrant Mother" by D. Lange; the subject of the photo Mrs. Thompson complained about the photo and claimed she was exploited -- clearly she was.

During the time those photos were published people knew they were propaganda and complained violently.

Joe
 
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I'm sure the police in WA are very trigger happy with the tazer :)

The police across the whole country are trigger happy now days with tasers and .40 glocks, they no longer talk, they just scream at you and then turn you in to a Christmas Tree or Bug Food, .... I am happy I moved to Japan the police talk to you like a person and do not draw a weapon.


OK back on the topic.

Taking photographs of children in Japan is not a problem as long as it is innocent and nothing more, but of adults that is where the problem is, but here is the ringer, the laws on privacy only protect Japanese Citizens, non-Japanese are not protected by privacy laws.

Japanese Criminal always have their face blurred out on the TV to protect their privacy unless the courts give permission to show the criminals face, but non-Japanese their face is shown all the time, and the TV station will also show a photography of where the Non-Japanese lives/lived, who lives with them if the people are not Japanese, what country they are from etc. etc.


On the news in summer time they are always showing people being arrested at the beach with hidden cameras taking photographs of females in bikinis.
 
I'm sure the police in WA are very trigger happy with the tazer :)

The police across the whole country are trigger happy now days with tasers and .40 glocks, they no longer talk, they just scream at you and then turn you in to a Christmas Tree or Bug Food, .... I am happy I moved to Japan the police talk to you like a person and do not draw a weapon.


OK back on the topic.

Taking photographs of children in Japan is not a problem as long as it is innocent and nothing more, but of adults that is where the problem is, but here is the ringer, the laws on privacy only protect Japanese Citizens, non-Japanese are not protected by privacy laws.

Japanese Criminal always have their face blurred out on the TV to protect their privacy unless the courts give permission to show the criminals face, but non-Japanese their face is shown all the time, and the TV station will also show a photography of where the Non-Japanese lives/lived, who lives with them if the people are not Japanese, what country they are from etc. etc.


On the news in summer time they are always showing people being arrested at the beach with hidden cameras taking photographs of females in bikinis.

Since you said "back on topic" I just want to point out that the OP asked about the morality of photographing the homeless not the legality. Legality and morality are two very different things and often have little to do with each other. They can in fact be in direct opposition to each other and frequently are.

Joe

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and the poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
-- Anatole France
 

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