LA woman stabbed, killed taking pictures of homeless

lynnb

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From PetaPixel:

A young woman was fatally stabbed last night after photographing homeless men holding offensive signs while begging in Hollywood.

The Los Angeles Times reports that 23-year-old Christina Calderon of Lynwood, California was walking with her friend at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue at 8pm last night when they noticed the three men begging for money with signs laden with obscenities.

After pulling out her cell phone and snapping a photograph of the transients, the men began demanding money in exchange for the photos. When the two women refused to hand over money, they were attacked, and Calderon was stabbed in the torso. She was taken to a local hospital, where she later died of her injuries during surgery.

The place where the attack took place is an area that’s bustling with tourists. Attractions there include Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Take care out there shooting on the streets, people.
 
When asked for money I always pay. However, my opinion on this particular incident is that some people should be rather shot with guns than with cameras 😉
 
Photographing these types of people is high risk IMO because they may be very unpredictable. I seem to remember Juan Valdenebro (RFFer) getting attacked in Spain when shooting in a red light district.

Tragedy though!
 
A tragic story no doubt but one that I'm surprised we don't hear more often. With the proliferation of cameras and camera phones as well as the Flickeratti that seem to specialise in images of the homeless its a wonder there aren't more of these attacks. Sense and sensibility goes out the window when some people have a camera in hand.

Not to say some issues aren't to be photographed, simply that some issues require some level of thought before engaging.
 
But that's in a public place and the homeless guys were clearly looking for attention. Otherwise, I agree about the usual lack of sense and sensibility when shooting these subjects.
 
Want to hear more detail. The article implied the man could be pro. Bait people to take picture (with the eye catching sign in a tourist spot) and demand money.

Did he even feel offended and refuse having his picture taken ?
 
Voyerism can do bad to people. Even photographers get wound and hurt, with all their knowledge and experience. She did wrong thing at a wrong place and time. Some people get stabbed without even reaching for a camera, just because they look wrong. RIP.

Once I were attacked by a woman, which turned out to be a GF of a local mighty one. And picture weren't worth all that hassle, honestly. But I had to do this to learn it. Not all lessons come so easy, though....
 
How sad! Indeed things can really go wrong when shooting strangers like that. A couple of years ago I had been shooting street people. At the stairs of a church, I had spotted someone sitting with his head on his knees and his hand stretched begging for money. A click and... He'd looked at me with a pissed-off stare, started rising, rising, and rising... I don't remember ever having seen anybody taller than him in my life nor me running that fast as on that day.
Of course, now I am more cautious with strangers than ever.
 
Sad story no doubt.

I will only add that in the last few years, ESPECIALLY in the USA, I'm much more cautious regarding people on the street who don't seem to be actively doing much. (Loiterers?) Unless I had a real purpose, such as a photographic project (in which case I woulod try to engage them first), I would not waste time or effort photographing them. Nor take the risk.

This is because there is a real epidemic of drug abuse (e.g., methamphetamines) in the USA in the past few years, and this type of drug can make addicts unpredictable, violent, and desperate for money to obtain more drug.

Be careful people!
 
Something tells me there is more to this... like the woman who made the photograph said the wrong thing after being asked for cash.

Not necessarily. In many parts of the world, taking pictures of beggars, homeless people, or others that tourists often photograph, the subjects often demand money. Refusing them can be, in some cases, quite risky.
 
I used to take late night photos of homeless people on New Orleans before I was married. Now I behave differently to reduce the risk of being harmed.

I also suspect that narcotics played a role in the California murder.
 
99% of pictures taken of the homeless are exploitive, so demanding cash from one's exploiter makes a perverse kind of sense.
 
Not necessarily. In many parts of the world, taking pictures of beggars, homeless people, or others that tourists often photograph, the subjects often demand money. Refusing them can be, in some cases, quite risky.

I highly doubt that this was solely over the photo. I'm sure the exchange after the photo is what set this off. I could be wrong, but in the tourist section of town, I doubt the "homeless" were just hoping to be able to stab someone with others around watching.
 
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