NikonGear'23
Images => People, Portraits, Street, PJ & Cityscapes => Topic started by: RBSinTo on January 06, 2016, 19:02:34
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Taken a few years ago at the corner of Simcoe and Queen in downtown Toronto, home to an ever-changing group of homeless Aboriginal people, until the construction of a mixed-use highrise complex drove them off.
motorized Nikon F2AS
Nikkor 105 2.5 AI manual focus
Fuji 100 ISO colour slide converted to black and white in Photoshop
about f4 @ 1/250th
(https://nikongear.net/revival/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.photochimps.com%2Fpp%2Fdata%2Forig%2F500%2FThe_Last_Drag-800.jpg&hash=4cc9ce95c5e4c4b4e1d9f32051d5aaa052ffad57)
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A character portrait of the gritty kind. That drag might apparently be one of his last ones ...
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what a contrast between his young and clean fingers (which do not fit into the overall impression) and his alcoholic face - a still young person - destroyed
your picture leads to thoughts and discussion
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what a contrast between his young and clean fingers (which do not fit into the overall impression) and his alcoholic face - a still young person - destroyed
your picture leads to thoughts and discussion
Interesting commentary Thomas.
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Well captured. Toronto's downtown is one of the best places I've been to for street photography moments. Haven't been there for a while lately.
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A person I would like to listen to. I have spoken to many homeless in my life, their views and stories are often more interesting than the stories of those who stayed encapsulated in their prefabricated world all their lives: cracks, scratches and disruptions seem to be necessary in many a life to become those who we are...
PLUS: the life outside can be very hard and very calm. It is not a one size fits all too. Some people make themselves at home outside and live there for many decades, others do it the hard way: alc, drugs, crime and die after a few years...
Things are often very different from what we can see on the surface and we as photographers are "just scanning the surface" as I use to say.
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Thanks all for the comments.
This shot is one of a few hundred that I took about ten years ago over the course of a year.
I spent my weekends meeting, chatting with, and with their permission, photographing a number of colonies of homeless persons in a couple of different locations in downtown Toronto.
I learned a great deal about street etiquette, and their lives in general when one no longer has access to proper, food, clothing and shelter, especially in the cold winter months.
I have continued to photograph homeless people when I see images that I feel are compelling and tell stories.
There are many who feel that this kind of photography is invasive and exploitive, because in many cases the subjects have no power to prevent their photos from being taken if they so wish.
I heard it disparaged by one photographer as "The low-hanging fruit on the street photography tree."
I of course disagree with both sentiments and as an aside, feel that the low hanging fruit on the street photography tree is pictures of people pathetically, and addictively engrossed in their various "devices". But that's a discussion for another time and place.
Robert
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It's an intriguing photo. And I complete agree with you. This kind of photography, done with interest and compassion, is one of the most difficult chapters in the 'book of photography', or is it more the 'book of life'?...
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Thanks all for the comments.
This shot is one of a few hundred that I took about ten years ago over the course of a year.
I spent my weekends meeting, chatting with, and with their permission, photographing a number of colonies of homeless persons in a couple of different locations in downtown Toronto.
I learned a great deal about street etiquette, and their lives in general when one no longer has access to proper, food, clothing and shelter, especially in the cold winter months.
I have continued to photograph homeless people when I see images that I feel are compelling and tell stories.
There are many who feel that this kind of photography is invasive and exploitive, because in many cases the subjects have no power to prevent their photos from being taken if they so wish.
I heard it disparaged by one photographer as "The low-hanging fruit on the street photography tree."
I of course disagree with both sentiments and as an aside, feel that the low hanging fruit on the street photography tree is pictures of people pathetically, and addictively engrossed in their various "devices". But that's a discussion for another time and place.
Robert
Thank you Robert for your explanation. I have removed all my homeless images from my website. As a former photojournalist, I see photos as stories. Most/all stories have multiple sides and I realized that I was just showing the "low hanging fruit" side ... a cursory, exploitive story with no depth. My photos did not show the story from the homeless side. So they are gone. I knew what I had to do ... something similar to your approach. Until I find the time and compulsion to sit and break bread with the homeless, I won't post any homeless.
Kudos to you.