Quitting Wall Street To Tell A Prostitute's Story

[Hsg]

Long time lurker makes his first post. Hello from Toronto.

i have no definition for what street photography is

I have been photographing in a style that could be called street photography for many years, but I don't consider myself a street photographer. For one I'm only interested in a few streets and locations, I'm only interested in telling the visual story of those locations, other streets and places, even in my own city has no interest for me. I cannot stand on any street and keep clicking and therefore in my mind I'm not a street photographer.

Having said that, I wouldn't call the photographer in question a street photographer because his specific and telling visual stories of a group of people in one location. There is a theme and a unifying trend in his photos. There is no collocation of sleek images with no relevance, the typical street photography portfolio, there is substance and seriousness in his work.

I'd be happy for the street photography label to die or go away because a lot of serious and interesting work can get lost under this stereotype, which street photography has become.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I would argue that the photojournalism coming out of Europe and North Africa in the 1930's did in fact make a difference

I would agree with you. However, I think that was another time and the past is, as Leslie Hartley wrote, a different place, where things are done differently.

At one time, it seems to me, photography done with care, published in mass circulation journals, led the case for such massive reforms as the British Welfare State, as was also done in other countries. Now, I believe, this sort of think comes too close to voyeurism to have any merit.

 

[jsrockit]

when a photo taker is living inside a bunker in their own mind and have no regard for what others think or take from their photos, now or in the future, then their photography is all about them...

Who are we speaking of here? Can I have an example? I'm speaking of the whole gallery/museum circuit that focuses more on the name than on the subject.

i have no definition for what street photography is, the same way that i have no definition for going out on a walk or window shopping, or thinking that i have a license to annoy people on the street because i have a camera in my hand.

So you can't define it, but you categorically dismiss it? And why do you assume that people making photos on the street always annoy people? Perhaps that's the reaction you got when trying, but it's not always that way. Some people are very nice.

 

[Texsport]

What exactly does anyone expect from an NPR editorial?

Give me a break!

Texsport

 

[jsrockit]

Something is wrong with my radar, I guess. I don't give a rat's a$$ what Arnade did before he began photographing in the Bronx. What does it matter?

It matters because it is fashionable to dismiss any job in the financial industry... People hear Wall St., and that means evil. There are plenty of people, who work on Wall St., that make regular salaries, try to make the markets a better place, and are not evil.

 

[steveclem]

try to make the markets a better place, and are not evil.

And not try to make as much money as possible? How magnanimous of them.😉

 

[DominikDUK]

Homeless prostitutes drug addicts and people working on wall street all have the same problem they have become stereotypes and are not considered individuals anymore. There are a**holes and angels in every profession and in every for lack of a better word social class.

I somewhat agree with Margu that Arnade prior profession shouldn't matter in a perfect world it shouldn't in this case as jsrockit rightly said it helps paint a different picture of someone working at the wall street. As a sidenote one of the nicest patients I've had during my time as paramedic was a board member of Austria's largest Bank and he wasn't all that happy about the going ons in the financial industry but there was very little he could do to change the negative aspects of the business.

Steveclem you do work for free yes if not why should others

 

[cosmonaut]

While I don't find anything exceptional in the photography itself I think that particular article attacking the photographer is harsh and innacurate.

Arbus spent a lot of time photographing people that many regard as freaks and they are some of the most powerful photos I've seen.

Well I agree. Some of his pictures are good but not all. I think he is over doing it. A handful of the best pictures would be better than a bunch of average pictures as well. I can tell he doesn't know much about photography.

As far as his subject matter homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes and mental subjects will always be controversial. I would feel obligated to live with the subjects if I were to try something like this and not drive home to my condo every night. I mean if he really want to experience being homeless be homeless.

 

[Dan Daniel]

It matters because it is fashionable to dismiss any job in the financial industry... People hear Wall St., and that means evil. There are plenty of people, who work on Wall St., that make regular salaries, try to make the markets a better place, and are not evil.

In 2013, the photographer himself describes himself as having worked 'on Wall Street' or some such phrase. Not 'in insurance,' not 'at a venture capital firm,' etc. He claims such a job, and as such has to accept how many/most people see 'Wall Street' these days. 'Evil' isn't the word I would use since it involves morality and ethics. 'Destructive' run by 'sociopaths' is more like it.

If the photographer doesn't want to be associated with 'Wall Street,' he either needs to clarify his role and differentiate himself and his job from the common perception, or he needs to lie.

I've known a few refugees from Wall Street who feel like they are so magnanimous and altruistic by leaving and working in non-profits or such. And yet they have all deemed it necessary to make me know that they worked on Wall Street within the first five minutes of meeting. They seem completely blind to the idea that many people do not consider it a badge of honor.

 

[steveclem]

Steveclem you do work for free yes if not why should others

Don't be ridiculous, I don't profess to be Mother Theresa either.
I'm sure your banking friend turns down his bonus in protest at the mud flinging and greed scandals infesting his dirty trade?
Going off topic here, let's move back to the rich boy slumming it for kicks and kudos shall we?

 

[jsrockit]

In 2013, the photographer himself describes himself as having worked 'on Wall Street' or some such phrase.

It's a generic term used for the industry in NYC (or the US markets in general).

Not 'in insurance,' not 'at a venture capital firm,' etc.

Not sure what your point is...

He claims such a job, and as such has to accept how many/most people see 'Wall Street' these days. 'Evil' isn't the word I would use since it involves morality and ethics. 'Destructive' run by 'sociopaths' is more like it.[/

True, he does have to deal with it. However, when you only see the bad stories in the news, it is easy to think that everyone involved is a sociopath and that everyone working on Wall St is evil. There are scumbags in this industry just as there are in most industries. That said, I've personally seen completely inaccurate articles written about events in which I knew the facts. Just completely inaccurate. I've never trusted the media, but that was eye opening.

If the photographer doesn't want to be associated with 'Wall Street,' he either needs to clarify his role and differentiate himself and his job from the common perception, or he needs to lie.

Well, it was his reality... there is no need to clarify anything since he no longer works there. However, you cannot run from your past. Do we even know what his job was? or are we just assuming the worst because the generic term "Wall St." is used?

I've known a few refugees from Wall Street who feel like they are so magnanimous and altruistic by leaving and working in non-profits or such. And yet they have all deemed it necessary to make me know that they worked on Wall Street within the first five minutes of meeting. They seem completely blind to the idea that many people do not consider it a badge of honor.

Ok, I work on "Wall St." ... well actually Broad St. 😉 Anyone who knows me personally (as more than a dozen here do) knows that I never want to even talk about my job much less brag about it. There are tools who want to brag in every line of work. For every person who thinks wall st is categorically evil, there are those that think it is cool. I think it's neither. It is a job. And before you jump to conclusions about my job, I work in regulation (enforcement of exchange rules) of option exchanges and for a not for profit. I make a decent, but normal salary and work with very honest people.

 

[DominikDUK]

Steven Poverty does not make you a more moral or a better human beeing. There a poor people that are great human beings and there are poor people that are just as bad as the worst sociopathic billionaire. For your information the board of the bank did turn down bonuses. Interestingly the new owner of the Bank is member of the Italian communist party. I also don't work in the financial sector but in the entertainment and culture sector

 

[gilgsn]

"Exploitation" would be putting these people to work without paying them.. Taking their photographs is not exploiting them. He's the one doing the work and taking the risks. They just shoot up..

Most of his images aren't good, but he is just starting.. He did what most people won't do. He might draw some attention to the area and that may result in more help. I see no negative side. He's getting some attention and maybe a bit of money, so what? Good for him.

Actually this thread might just motivate me to get my ass out of the house and try something different.. Instead of trying to find fault with someone who did just that.

Gil.

 

[MCTuomey]

well said gil - especially your concise point about exploitation.

 

[finguanzo]

Dont believe JSRockit..
Hes one of those "Wall Street" thieves, destroyed everything, killed my puppy too..
😀

 

[tunalegs]

"Exploitation" would be putting these people to work without paying them.. Taking their photographs is not exploiting them. He's the one doing the work and taking the risks. They just shoot up..

You have an "interesting" idea about what the word exploitation means. 😀

 

[DominikDUK]

" He's the one doing the work and taking the risks. They just shoot up..
Gil.

Hey I thought we were talking about the poor not the New York fashion scene of the 1980'S

 

[Ranchu]

Yeah, well I don't see anyone doing anything about colocation and HFT, jsrockit. We'd all be better off without wall street, the system you work in is parasitic and criminal, nothing more. Plus Arnade was likely paid out of capital gains so he only paid 15%. Hard to fund programs to get people off the street when the free money scumbags pay a lower rate than the people who pay the rent. But hey maybe Arnade was thinking ahead, if he funded some programs for addicts back then whose blood would he be sucking these days?

I also disagree with this from the OP.

"The circumstances of our birth are pretty much a big cosmic crapshoot."

Capital needs poor people to force people to be exploited by it/them, it needs an object lesson.

Filth. Scabs. Pain. Hunger. Sickness and Death.

Here it is brought to you by Wall Street guy, so unctuously solicitous.

 

[Ranchu]

uh well yeah huh?

uh well yeah huh?

Wall Street Threatening To Withhold Donations After Pope’s Critique

"now that Pope Francis has weighed in on their transgressions the banksters are quite upset. They may not have cared when the powerless protested but a few criticisms from on high and their pride was wounded. Billionaire Ken Langone, one of Wall Street’s most aggressive advocates, is the latest to demonstrate hurt feelings over being shamed by the pope. Langone went so far as to claim the pope’s comments questioning trickle-down economics were so problematic for the rich in America that raising money to restore Catholic Church property such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City might be in jeopardy.
Langone reportedly told Arch Bishop of New York Timothy Dolan:

“I’ve told the cardinal ‘Your eminence this is one more hurdle I hope we don’t have to deal with. You want to be careful about generalities. Rich people in one country don’t act the same as rich people in another country.”

​

It’s not enough for Wall Street to control the message from academia and a good portion of the media they also want to muzzle the pope. Stop all the Jesus talk your holiness or we’re taking the money we looted somewhere else."


http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/12...g-to-withhold-donations-after-popes-critique/

 

[Texsport]

Steven Poverty does not make you a more moral or a better human beeing. There a poor people that are great human beings and there are poor people that are just as bad as the worst sociopathic billionaire. For your information the board of the bank did turn down bonuses. Interestingly the new owner of the Bank is member of the Italian communist party. I also don't work in the financial sector but in the entertainment and culture sector

Sorry, but the street people are much more likely to be the sociopaths than the billionaires.

Approximately 7-10% of total female population suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. Additionally, approximately 20% of the inmates in federal prisons suffer from the same serious mental disease.

Unfortunately, governments are inhibited by politicians, who would rather play Santa Claus to voting freeloaders than invest tax money in government mental institutions for non - voting, ill, street people.

The truly ill are ignored, but the true system scammers are valued - not the best formula for improving the future of any nation.

NPR has a totally political agenda, and their views on anything are biased and devious, attempting to illicit reactions based on knee jerk feelings instead of from logic and factual information.

This photo essay was published by NPR because it fits the template of blaming successful individuals for the failings of the life - time failures.

Street people are almost certain to have mental issues which have directly landed them where they are, instead of their being discriminated against by successful people.

Finding an extreme example, as if this case, and then attempting to proceed to generalizations for the entire human race would seem so obvious to detect - but unfortunately, many fall prey to this foolishness.


Texsport