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Poverty porn
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I just joined this forum and posted this pic today….
I think there is a place for it, as it also raises awareness. I dont think however images like this should be sold for profit etc… I dont think anyone would complain about a photo of a homeless person in National Geographic….because the motive is more to do with awareness.
i think ben has a point.
surely you’re implying that by taking a photo of a homeless person it is some kind of discrimination, seeing as how if you take a photo, clearly you must be a heartless person, who sees humour in other peoples misfortune! I have to laugh because it’s so far from the truth. if you decide to EXCLUDE a homeless person from your street photography because however interesting the scene, he/she is misfortunate, then that in itself is discriminatory!
Photography is an art form, ranging through ALL different subjects imaginable. if taking a photo of a homeless person is “not right”, then neither is taking a photo of someone who is starving, suffering through poverty, a different race, a different religion, or any other significance which one could say makes a person “different” from your idea of the normal person.
Photography is as much about the technical aspects as it is about the subject matter, and it is YOUR interpretation which creates meaning in the photograph. a photograph has no meaning if there is no one there to interpret it.
People need to stop being just so “Socially and politcally correct” because it’s ridiculous. So many people just dont get that fact that discrimination is a two-way occurrence. it’s all or nothing guys, thats just the way it is. otherwise people are just contradicting themselves.Intersting post and it is good to see that there is a broad spectrum of views on this forum. I have seen threads like this before where everyone will take the moral position.
Personally I would treat a homeless person like any other, if there is interest and a purpose to the image then go for it. If you normally ask permission, then ask. Why treat them any different? Are you really exploiting a homeless person more than any other just because they are homeless? I personally don’t think so.irishwonkafan wrote:
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When I read down through your comments I remember the shot that was taken of the starving child with the vulture in the background…Carter I think took it? Obviously he had stepped over his self-determined edge in this capture…enough to end his own life. Sensationalist but striving to get the more iunusual shot can affect some.
……Alan – this brought back the memory of that now famous image and also the story behind it.
I think that this is a cracking quote from the article
“The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene.”Reading wikipedia gives some new alterantive views on the popular story… interesting reading.
Yes, a very, very interesting post. Some very worthwhile points of view here.
I don’t really know where I sit on this.
I often find “life story” shots very interesting and thought provoking… and I do feel for the people in unfortunate situations. I wonder do these sort of photographs promote awareness… or does it all really boil down to each one of us as an individual and how we choose to interpret things.
I had two uncles who spent the best part of their earlier lives living rough on the streets of Birmingham. I never viewed them any differently to any of my supposedley “normal” uncles. They have since passed and I have many fond memories of them… maybe it was because I was too young at the time to fully understand their predicament… but I always viewed them no differently than anyone else. They were just people.
I’ve nothing really worthwhile to add to this other than to say that my own opinion is swaying like a pendulum the more I read this.
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