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Thread: December Portraits

  1. #21

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    Re: December Portraits

    Quote Originally Posted by Denis Pleic View Post
    That makes it a bit better. Still, the photo makes me uneasy.

    Personally, I'd never take a photo of a homeless person, under any circumstances.
    But then again, I couldn't picture myself in the role of a paparazzo, either... or in the role of Weegee.

    Call me old-fashioned (or outdated), but that's just me...
    I often shoot homeless, but I sit with them and hear their stories too.
    In many cases, the line between homelessness and not, is very thin and one can't help but think, there but by the grace of God, t'is not I. Most are very open to conversation and a little company, even if, but for a short while.

    My youngest daughter and some of her classmates are doing a school project on homelessness, the group meeting planned for a Starbucks near their school. I intervened and took the group to a squat camp, we found a young girl (20) as she was closest to the girls in age, and sat with her and did a video interview of her for the class presentation.

    Life can be a very fragile, and chance can play harder on some souls than others.
    I think the experience was a very good thing for all of the girls.

  2. #22

    Re: December Portraits

    Quote Originally Posted by Allen in Montreal View Post
    Jeremy, that picture makes me smile! Nice.
    Just a note, that's a picture OF me, not BY me. It was taken by my friend Mark on a road trip to Vegas to visit my family. Mark won the stuffed animal at a carnival game in Vegas and we used it in pictures for the rest of the trip.

  3. #23

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    Re: December Portraits

    Denis (and others) is the reason it makes you uneasy because you choose to shy away from such reality? Maybe at age 22 I've been in contact with homeless and drug-users for nearly 6 years, traveled and met people not just in this country who don't have places to live.

    I'm more likely to photograph the person because I want to document them, a monument to their existence. If nobody else notices them, or ignores them, at least I have an image as a memory.


    Some crazy guy erratically throwing around juggling balls in the town center today ended up in a game of 'catch' with the kids (16-20 y/o's) who hang out in that spot. They'd been watching him for the good part of an hour.

    After he looked like moving on myself and a friend went up to him. He was drunk and drinking more, ranted a bit, told us his name was Jay-Jay and let me take a couple shots (on a compact, only camera with me) and then he asked if we had 20p. The friend of mine had a 50p in his pocket. And that was the end of that. We moved on.

    I've frequently bought lunch for local drunks and homeless, I find it insulting when people don't - and I'm from the young generation of 'take-and-don't-give'ers.

    "Call me old-fashioned (or outdated), but that's just me..." - in fact it's common practice in early photography to document the less fortunate.

  4. #24
    Japan Exposures
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    Re: December Portraits



    Taken a while ago. I was shooting from the footbridge when this lady got curious. I let her look on the GG and eventually asked to have her picture taken. Her mother was ill and she wanted to send this to her. I think it is a very charming portrait.

    Sinar F2, Fujifilm Acros 8x10, Rodinal 1+25 9m drum processed, Globe portrait lens (1880s), Fuji TONE Gaslight Contact Printing Paper.

    As for facing reality, this is a profile on Japanese photographer Manabu Yamanaka we have published today: http://www.japanexposures.com/2009/1...anaka-gallery/

  5. #25

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    Re: December Portraits

    Dear Monty,

    These images are spectacular...

    If your have a moment, please show more of your work.

    Well done, young man.

    jim k

  6. #26

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    Re: December Portraits

    Quote Originally Posted by leighmarrin View Post


    A homeless man in Santa Monica, holding the dollar bill I gave him. Used a Certo 9x12cm "BeeBee" plate camera with Efke PL100 film.
    Quote Originally Posted by Denis Pleic View Post
    For me, there's something seriously wrong with this photo - and it's not anything technical, to make it quite clear...
    Quote Originally Posted by leighmarrin View Post
    Denis, he asked me for money politely, and after giving it to him, I in turn asked politely to take his photograph. I scale-focused my old camera at waist level, and quickly took his picture. He chose to hold the dollar bill up; I did not ask him.
    Quote Originally Posted by Denis Pleic View Post
    That makes it a bit better. Still, the photo makes me uneasy.

    Personally, I'd never take a photo of a homeless person, under any circumstances.
    But then again, I couldn't picture myself in the role of a paparazzo, either... or in the role of Weegee.

    Call me old-fashioned (or outdated), but that's just me...
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike1234 View Post
    Well, it's an image you won't soon forget nor will many others who see it. Maybe a few thousand more honest images of the homeless will convince us to finally do something about this societal problem.
    Quote Originally Posted by Donald Miller View Post
    To my way of thinking an effective photograph has the ability to move us emotionally. That can just as well mean to move us in uncomfortable ways. It is time that we kicked the walls out of our self constructed comfort zones.
    This is a significant issue among street photographers. There are three problems, the first having to do with ethics and propriety, especially when money changes hands, the second being that these photographs are easy to do and a dime a dozen, and the third being an absence, except in the context of a thought-out documentary project, of any apparent aesthetic or even political purpose. Experienced street photographers won't do them; just check out the street photography fora on the internet, where this kind of thing is looked on with disdain. What's a little different about this one is that the subject's decision to hold up the dollar bill can be construed as giving the finger to the photographer. Just look at the expression on his face.
    Arca-Swiss 8x10/4x5 | Mamiya 6x7 | Leica 35mm | Blackmagic Ultra HD Video
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  7. #27
    Tri Tran's Avatar
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    Re: December Portraits

    December already huh? Wow, time goes by fast. Here's mine taken with the 360mm Imagon.



    Happy Holidays everyone!

  8. #28
    Preston Birdwell
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    Re: December Portraits

    "...can be construed as giving the finger to the photographer. Just look at the expression on his face.
    "

    I see the sadness of a harsh life in his face, no more, no less.

    I believe that poeple look with disdain upon images like this simply because they rattle their thinking that all is good with their world.

    ***

    I am not a portrait photographer, but I must say that I follow these threads every month and find the work displayed in them exemplary!

    -Preston
    Preston-Columbia CA

    "If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse; that comes a little cheaper."

  9. #29

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    Re: December Portraits

    I agree with Preston's comments above regarding the homeless man. That said, photos like this do tread a fine line between recording a truism and using the subject. Often this is just the way things are and, sadly, one cannot exist without the other. The important thing to remember is to remain compassionate because, without that, it's just using someone who's powerless to defend himself. I have no doubt the photographer had/has compassion for the man in the photo.

  10. #30
    アナログ侘・寂
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    Re: December Portraits

    I'd rather not pollute this thread, so I'm opening another thread, under title "Photographing homeless"....

    Just to make it clear, I follow these "Portrait" threads almost religiously - I have seen so many fantastic photos here that I don't even dare say I own a LF camera, let alone show anything...

    As for taking photos of homeless people, and why I abhore it, we'll take it to another thread - and leave this for photographs...

    Denis

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