Photographing the Homeless.

[helen.HH]

Dear Nick,

I don't know if you are referring to me
but I am NOT a gutless photographer....especially in the realm of
if & when I shoot the Fallen/the Homeless.
I most always Talk w/ them
see if they need medical assistance
and either buy them something warm to eat & drink or give a little monetary assistance

I do not think there is anything wrong in shooting situations that are NOT pleasant to the Eye....
in fact people need to be more Aware and start doing something for those with less.

Are You against shooting war photos & Disasters ?
Should we All be kept in the Dark ?

With all due Respect ,
helen

 

[helen.HH]

I hope those homeless folks gang up on you as you wander into depressed urban areas to create your "art", steal your M9, and use it to buy food and a change of clothes.

Though I do not have an M9
and still not sure who You are Directing Your Hatred at
You sound Extremely Self Righteous and a Touch Sick
Helen

 

[NickTrop]

Though I do not have an M9
and still not sure who You are Directing Your Hatred at
You sound Extremely Self Righteous and a Touch Sick
Helen

And you sound a judgmental, closed minded to the opinions of others with whom you disagree, and unable to process blatant sarcasm.

 

[helen.HH]

And you sound a judgmental, closed minded to the opinions of others with whom you disagree, and unable to process blatant sarcasm.

I do not believe You are speaking with 'blatant sarcasm'
but with a rather spiteful & hateful demeanor

as for me being Judgmental
I am NOT laying down Rules & Laws as to what one can shoot in Life
You seem to be telling us Your Code & Rules of Ethics
indicating a Healthy Dose of Self Importance.

I am Interested in your Opinions & Do take them to Heart
but not your Rules.

Signing Off....
Best to You - H

 

[NickTrop]

Dear Nick,

I don't know if you are referring to me
but I am NOT a gutless photographer....especially in the realm of
if & when I shoot the Fallen/the Homeless.
I most always Talk w/ them
see if they need medical assistance
and either buy them something warm to eat & drink or give a little monetary assistance

I do not think there is anything wrong in shooting situations that are NOT pleasant to the Eye....
in fact people need to be more Aware and start doing something for those with less.

Are You against war photos as well
Should we All be kept in the Dark ?

With all due Respect ,
helen

I was making a general comment not directed to anyone in particular who does this. I already explained my reasoning in a lengthy post, which if you were to follow my logic, it would be obvious that it does not include war photojournalism. Not shooting the homeless for reasons already outlined is something I feel strongly about and that is reflected in the language of my post. I am always careful not to direct my ire at "a person" or make an ad homenim attack as you just did toward me (except to retaliate... I will go tit for tat in such a case...). And I hope you noticed that I was careful not to comment on individual posters, their opinions on the matter, or the photos they posted, but rather "the act" or "the action" of photographing homeless people with an accompanying explanation of my reasoning. I will use "charged" or provocative language, if warranted, to evoke an emotion and - in this instance, get you to think or reconsider your position. You obviously "took the bait", as you were affected by what I said, and after you settle down, later, perhaps you will consider my position and change your actions, and realize that your justifications for your actions are, in reality, rationalizations for what are in my view unethical and exploitive acts.

 

[emraphoto]

in Ontario 75% of women on the streets (homeless) are believed to have serious mental illness.

 

[emraphoto]

over 30% of the homeless population (male and female) has a serious mental health issue.

equally 30-40% struggle with an addiction of some form.

(Mandy and John haven't seen the kids in over 5 years. last they heard the oldest boy is now living on the street)

 

[emraphoto]

there is a 5-7 year wait for subsidized transitional housing in my neck o' the woods.

a 2 year waiting list for detox/treatment facilities.

 

[emraphoto]

http://unityproject.ca/

http://unityproject.ca/pdfs/UPBeat-Fall09.pdf

 

[Turtle]

there is a 5-7 year wait for subsidized transitional housing in my neck o' the woods.

a 2 year waiting list for detox/treatment facilities.

In Kabul, capital to the country that produces the vast majority of the world's heroin, detox facilities are virtually absent. Despite the massive amounts of money spent on poppy eradication, Afghan addicts struggle for the (literally) 100 or so spaces in the city and live in unimaginable squalor. Hard drug addiction is commonplace, much more so than in the west, yet there is relatively little visibility of the issue outside the country. Almost all the money is ploughed into largely ineffective eradication with little to no impact on the availability of heroin around the world. The irony of a self-righteous western approach to eradication 'for the good of the world' is not hard to miss when there is not the slightest effort to show solidarity and goodwill by funding rehab programs for the people whom we are asking not to produce it in the first place! There are a few clinics that do commendably well with very little, but they make a small dent.

Unfortunately and predictably, getting a bed in one of the clinics is much harder if you are not able to pay a bribe, so those in the worst state are those least able to get help. Nothing in Afghanistan happens without bribes, but when those working at the clinics are sometimes not paid for months on end and funding streams come and go with fallow periods, its hardly surprising.

 

[emraphoto]

In Kabul, capital to the country that produces the vast majority of the world's heroin, detox facilities are virtually absent. Despite the massive amounts of money spent on poppy eradication, Afghan addicts struggle for the (literally) 100 or so spaces in the city and live in unimaginable squalor. Hard drug addiction is commonplace, much more so than in the west, yet there is relatively little visibility of the issue outside the country. Almost all the money is ploughed into largely ineffective eradication with little to no impact on the availability of heroin around the world. The irony of a self-righteous western approach to eradication 'for the good of the world' is not hard to miss when there is not the slightest effort to show solidarity and goodwill by funding rehab programs for the people whom we are asking not to produce it in the first place! There are a few clinics that do commendably well with very little, but they make a small dent.

Unfortunately and predictably, getting a bed in one of the clinics is much harder if you are not able to pay a bribe, so those in the worst state are those least able to get help. Nothing in Afghanistan happens without bribes, but when those working at the clinics are sometimes not paid for months on end and funding streams come and go with fallow periods, its hardly surprising.

i have been to a few places such as that in my wanderings. honestly i have found it a scary prospect to be in need (in any form) in a region where you aren't going to get it and where resources are nil.

i suppose that is where Canada's figures become even more troubling. the amount of folks on the streets suffering from serious mental health issues is staggering. the direct link between mental health and addiction is largely ignored. surrounded by such a wealthy society it should be a national disgrace.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

This makes me think of Susan Sontag's opinion on how pathetic the rising fame of a photographer was because it was based on suffering people... I agree. Sometimes suffering is not related to poverty, but to being an unusual or not fitting character in any way... And even if the subject is not conscious at all of that own condition, the photographer can be unfairly rude at materializing that version of the subject... Anyway, as pathetic as being that kind of photographer, is being that kind of public, even though both -masses of shooters and masses of viewers- feel moved that way, and consider photography is that, almost exclusively: showing how hard life is...


I don't shoot homeless people usually, but I have done it when there's any other interest on the scene, like a contrast with other part of the image (then the theme is our society), or even the beauty of light. I have never been seen by any of them, and I consider this necessary as a minimum amount of respect.


Homeless people can be photographed in a sweet way too, as when the photographer shows the strength of love over any other fact of destiny: if a poor street sleeping person is shot smiling at the animals that live with him or her, and caressing and feeding them, the scene is moving too without saying “pain alone won” which denigrates human condition and doesn't really speak of what life really offers any person, rich or poor, common or unusual. Again Sontag comes to mind...


Cheers,


Juan

 

[emraphoto]

"which denigrates human condition and doesn't really speak of what life really offers any person, rich or poor, common or unusual."

life indeed offers a mixed bag. sadly we all are offered up different lots and some of us need/deserve more care than others.

 

[Turtle]

I agree that very few situations, once understood, or very much like what they seemed on the surface and that includes the predicaments of those involved. The human spirit can be incredibly fragile as well as robust beyond comprehension. And everything is relative; however, I do not agree that a photographer who becomes famous for shooting suffering is somehow pathetic. Not all photographers are trying to be entirely objective. Few photographers covering a horrid situation would include the fleeting moments of lightness because most have an agenda. Many shoot for aid agencies or papers which generally ask not to understand the situation and all its human depth, but only the depth of the misery. It brings in aid and sells papers I guess. I certainly don't begrudge a photographer who sticks to the unpleasant angle of an unpleasant situation when he or she is trying to solicit support for fund raising campaigns or whatever it might be. I guess there is an ethical question here in that every photographer needs to answer.

Personally I dont look for misery. Its not hard to find and tells us little we do not ordinarily know. I look for nothing in particular, just try to understand things through photography and try to remain receptive to surprises that tell me something new or change the way I think or feel about something or a situation. Its about learning and somehow making those thoughts tangible in the form of photographs.

This makes me think of Susan Sontag's opinion on how pathetic the rising fame of a photographer was because it was based on suffering people... I agree. Sometimes suffering is not related to poverty, but to being an unusual or not fitting character in any way... And even if the subject is not conscious at all of that own condition, the photographer can be unfairly rude at materializing that version of the subject... Anyway, as pathetic as being that kind of photographer, is being that kind of public, even though both -masses of shooters and masses of viewers- feel moved that way, and consider photography is that, almost exclusively: showing how hard life is...

....

Homeless people can be photographed in a sweet way too, as when the photographer shows the strength of love over any other fact of destiny: if a poor street sleeping person is shot smiling at the animals that live with him or her, and caressing and feeding them, the scene is moving too without saying “pain alone won” which denigrates human condition and doesn't really speak of what life really offers any person, rich or poor, common or unusual. Again Sontag comes to mind...


Cheers,


Juan

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

My ethics would never allow me to get involved in earning money shooting the blood of wars.

I've seen some of those photographers wanting that blood to keep their jobs. I am not saying it is always a conscious bahaviour, but you understand me... I don't agree when a photographer says that his crude shot of a man already torn to pieces will help the whole situation. I am not sure they are doing something... Even if they want to... Wars are growing and growing and there are thousands of those photographers. This is sad and hard to discuss, also...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[NickTrop]

the amount of folks on the streets suffering from serious mental health issues is staggering. the direct link between mental health and addiction is largely ignored. surrounded by such a wealthy society it should be a national disgrace.

Yes - so let's wander around with our expensive photographic toys and take pictures of them because people with craggy faces, missing teeth, tattered clothing, and eating out of trash cans taken in an urban setting look great in grainy Tri-X developed in Rodinal! That's "art" donchya know. Then, let's bitch to the high heavens about those "socialist"(tm) libruuuls who what to spend a few tax dollars addressing that problem instead of funneling it into the ever-hungry industrial-military complex because doing so will "raise our taxes!!! Grrrrr" and we might not have enough money to buy that pricey new photographic toy. And 'sides, if we fix that homeless problem - welp, we're left with only statues and mannequins to shoot. Sides - it's their problem if they're addicts, they made those choices. Why should I have to pay for their rehabilitation. And "mental health issues" don't really exist anyway. We live in the greatest country in the world! (Waves flag...)

 

[emraphoto]

ah the resident fasci... sorry, lord Trop.

it would be a mistake to assume that is indeed all i do however you seem well prepared to ASSume what you so please.

 

[NickTrop]

ah the resident fasci... sorry, lord Trop.

it would be a mistake to assume that is indeed all i do however you seem well prepared to ASSume what you so please.

? I was agreeing with your position

 

[emraphoto]

oops! sorry mate... bit of a dunderhead at times.

 

[-doomed-]

I don't photograph the homeless, not because I think its wrong or terrible, living in a small town where there aren't homeless people outside of the guy who drifts from Trenton along the commuter train to Camden , I see him often yet he's always in good spirit and does not appear to be an addict or mentally ill person, for all intents and purposes he appears content to go about life as he has been since I first noticed him in my own town. Recently I was in Philadelphia and had seen a few homeless people , one man opened the door to the dunkin donuts as I went to enter and grabbed the door on the way out, asking for my spare change upon my exit , I had none to give at the time, but he was understanding and I thanked him for opening the door to which he replied anytime. I think that had I asked him if he'd mind me taking a photo of him he probably would have said no problem.

I agree that there should be a way to help get people like him some sort of assistance however , the guy who drifts from town to town seems content to live his life the way he is now. Life offers up a mixed bag and for the "street photographer" the homeless are as much a part of the landscape as anyone else. Capturing the human condition(hopefully in a respectful manner) seems to be what the whole genre is about.

My question is would avoiding photographing the homeless take away and perhaps lessen the goal or impact of "street photography".