And yes, I decided in the end not to post a photo from the mental health thing... if for no other reason than they didn't really feel like street photos ;p
I read your street photo thread and then came here to see what you posted. I think you chose the right photo. This is a very good street photo! I'm a very private person and I've discovered that street photography is not for me. For my challenge photo, I took my son and his guitar downtown. It allowed me to practice angles and lighting without worrying about offending anyone and I'm pretty sure he won't sue me.
This is a great b&w street photo. He looks lonely and I wonder what he has in his hands. Also trying to figure what the sign says. I like your sensitivity about what you post!
Hmmmmm, if you have decided not to post the photo because you don't really like then that's fair enough, but if you didn't do it because you thought you might upset people then we need to have words ;) Street photography is about creating a response / emotion from people, whether good or bad. Life isn't all about fluffy kittens and pretty flowers etc. I guess this is something I have feelings about.
This is fantastic, Northy! I loved your topic you started! I think street photography can be a powerful art form! I don't know if I have what it takes tho!
Just read your discussion - I know what you mean about feeling you are almost intruding on someone...I find this type of photography really difficult too. like this B&W captured the mood really well
Great b&w shot. The great thing about this kind of photography is that you can often capture people doing what they do naturally and it makes for a more powerful image than something posed. I think people like it because it is a bit of an intrusion a bit of reality in a photo. Good job.
I tried a bit of street photography while I was walking out and about in the downtown East side awhile back. It's a very rough part of town with a lot of homeless, drug-addicted, and/or mentally ill people. Not to mention prostitutes and drug dealers. I didn't enjoy the experience, and I felt I was taking away what little dignity they had left - photographing them like they were in some sort of human zoo, or something. So, while I can certainly respect the bravery it takes for other people to venture down that road - I just don't think it's for me. I only take street portraits now if they're doing something that clearly cries out for attention (like my recent roller-skating crackhead girl who was smiling and giving the rock horns to me) or if I ask to take their portrait and they agree.
Great shot, it tells quite a story. I understand your reluctance in posting the other shot. I have difficulty in taking street shots at all so I admire your nerve xx
@38mm hey Jase... i decided not to post that photo because the thought of doing so made me uncomfortable... not because I was worried about provoking a response... in my eyes, the subject looked vulnerable and it didn't feel right to me to expose that... of course, for all i know, he might have been laughing to himself about picking out a pin to tease his kid brother with, but that's not what my eyes saw...
regardless, this does make me think... because i was not hugely worried about posting the above picture, or the relic picture from april 20th... both of these gentlemen are quite possibly very vulnerable / marginalized individuals... i guess in my eye (and again, it's so very subjective) they seem more weathered, and more likely to be impervious to whatever discussion results from the posting of such an image... but of course, i have no way of validating that assumption...
in response to @pwallis point, i like to think that there is some value in sharing photographs that raise awareness of the ills within our society, that ensures those who are marginalized do not become entirely invisble... but that may simply be the naive justification of someone who really hasn't a clue (meaning me)...
anyway, i appreciate very much the fact that both of you have weighed in on this... considering the response on the discussion thread, it seeems to be quite clearly a complex subject, and quite possibly one without any clearly right or wrong answer... and i guess i would like to think that sparking the conversation in the first place can only be a good thing...
tx for looking and commenting... this photo was taken at nathan phillips square, by Toronto city hall... the square is undergoing a major revitalization project... i was going to comment on that in the caption or beneath the photo, but no matter how i worded it, it made it sound like the gentleman in the photo required revitalization which seemed wrong... but indeed, that particular corner seems to attract garbage - i think as much to do with how the winds blow things around as anything else...
@northy No worries, Street Photography is something I feel very strongly about, even more so as it often gets a battering from other "photographers". For me its about the only way that the real world is documented, so that includes the good, bad and ugly of the society we live in.
If one photo of a drug addict inspires someone to go help people in that situation, then to me, it does it job. I think that when people see a photograph that's makes them uncomfortable then it is to easy to blame the photographer instead of looking at the real reason i.e how do we live in a society that lets that happen.
So maybe there is no right or wrong answer, apart from mine cos I'm always right :P
@38mm blame the photographer? but why? if something makes you uncomfortable, don't look... and don't use the frivolous excuse that someone is forcing you to see something you don't want to see... (i think i may actually believe in free will)...
@northy Sorry maybe that didn't come across how I meant it (I'm not to good with writing and stuff). I was trying to say that I think a lot of people would rather blame the photographer for making them feel uncomfortable rather than face up to what is around them. I didn't mean that's how I felt. Hopefully that makes sense
@38mm hey jase... no worries... i knew you were saying that this is how others felt and that bothered you... i was expressing surprise and dismay that such a perspective could be so prevalant... and that it bothers me too... the "you" was meant in the generic... ok - i'm being totally inarticulate... i think we agree... 'nuff said? ;p
Great street candid! To add to the above discussion, it's very much a minority genre but if we are to have any future photographic social record then someone has to do it! It has an added dimension: the subject, unlike a flower or a landscape say, can bite back, which is another reason why some photographers avoid it. It could be seen as intruding and disrespectful, but I think the good candid photographer has a connection, an empathy with the subject when that shutter is released. He/she is entering into the world of the subject in a sympathetic, not judgemental way. If you negotiate you lose the spontaneity and the relationship is changed. You could say it becomes more equal, but you don't catch a genuine moment.
May 4th, 2012
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regardless, this does make me think... because i was not hugely worried about posting the above picture, or the relic picture from april 20th... both of these gentlemen are quite possibly very vulnerable / marginalized individuals... i guess in my eye (and again, it's so very subjective) they seem more weathered, and more likely to be impervious to whatever discussion results from the posting of such an image... but of course, i have no way of validating that assumption...
in response to @pwallis point, i like to think that there is some value in sharing photographs that raise awareness of the ills within our society, that ensures those who are marginalized do not become entirely invisble... but that may simply be the naive justification of someone who really hasn't a clue (meaning me)...
anyway, i appreciate very much the fact that both of you have weighed in on this... considering the response on the discussion thread, it seeems to be quite clearly a complex subject, and quite possibly one without any clearly right or wrong answer... and i guess i would like to think that sparking the conversation in the first place can only be a good thing...
tx for looking and commenting... this photo was taken at nathan phillips square, by Toronto city hall... the square is undergoing a major revitalization project... i was going to comment on that in the caption or beneath the photo, but no matter how i worded it, it made it sound like the gentleman in the photo required revitalization which seemed wrong... but indeed, that particular corner seems to attract garbage - i think as much to do with how the winds blow things around as anything else...
If one photo of a drug addict inspires someone to go help people in that situation, then to me, it does it job. I think that when people see a photograph that's makes them uncomfortable then it is to easy to blame the photographer instead of looking at the real reason i.e how do we live in a society that lets that happen.
So maybe there is no right or wrong answer, apart from mine cos I'm always right :P
@pwallis