When lunacy reigns supreme...

Wow! Your old picture is great.

Sorry, I can't help with your plan(ing).

Povety / misery seemed bolder, back when the FSA paid photographers. These days it might take more than a single frame to point at it, especially when we are talking about somewhat established folks, like lower working class instead of homeless people.

 

Either change your medium, by switching to montage or maybe even video or find some cartoonist or actors to collaborate with, would be my suggestion. But honestly: While I am usally aware of picture opportunities I missed, "ordinary people hanging on by their fingernails" haven't condensed into my imagined viewfinder frame, yet.

Maybe it's always been thus, but the things that matter seem more hidden and less amenable to being revealed photographically. Honestly, they're better exposed in spreadsheets and are inexplicable to the masses anyway. There was also a time when minds could be changed by a good argument (I came here for a good argument. Ah, no you didn't, you came here for an argument...) but those days are long gone, so why create?

While I have anger, disappointment, and frustration with many of our leaders, I also recognize varying degrees of dishonor, incompetence, and corruption among them. So, I tend not to refer to all of them as idiots and try to be discerning in my reaction to very different behaviors among them.

 

Nevertheless ...

 

Agree. Some are genuinely interested in helping. It’s also not easy keeping grumps like Rodeo happy and giving young people hope for the future at the same time.

Yes. Some young people actually give me hope ...

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by samstevens

Pictures that have a political statement:

 

This Side Up - Park bench to Park Avenue by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

Don't crowd me by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

NY Loves You by Alan Klein, on Flickr

Magnum photo seems to still be offering a lot of in-depth sorts of documentary work and also offers some classes on documentary photography. It takes some thought and a lot of work to really dig into something like the dissolution of leadership and the reasons people vote for certain politicians. It's a worthy project though to try to take that on.

a metaphor for how post-war government forced an ill-considered and cheaply-built bleak modernity onto those with little political voice.

In general, I agree with you, but I'm not sure your photograph represents what you would like to say I see a grandfather walking with his grandchildren on a sidewalk protected from automobiles. All seem warmly dressed, and all have shoes. On the left edge, there is an apartment house which appear to have balconies. Here in southern California, there is a plan to consstruct a huge building for student housing at the University of California at Santa Barbara in which over ninety per cent of the rooms will have no windows. Ventilation will be blown in, and outdoor light will be simulated with panels that change color and intensity depending on the time of day. Such lighting can be fine for photography, I wouldn't want to live there. If this proposal gets final approval, the students will wish for the "bleak" balconies in your photograph. Best regards.

Interesting!

Are the words "crumbling infrastructure" over used to the point of distraction? Meanwhile there's plenty of money for war and prisons.

 

Where I live in Pennsylvania, there are a large number of old steel bridges- most built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Most also getting dangerous, many closed down. Some of them are slowly being replaced while others sit like this- year after year after year. Many or most of these old iron bridges are straight-up utilitarian, although a few of them have some decorative architectural aspects.

 

 

another, many miles away from the first one:

 

 

The bridge above (#2), the Sheepford Road bridge, was closed by the locality (township) after decades of neglect- and they began talking of replacing it.

Well, you should hear the hue & cry- suddenly- as if nobody saw this coming, everyone is all

"SAVE *OUR* BRIDGE" !!!! Meanwhile, elsewhere across the state, local historical societies have found plenty of funding for work on- or full replacement of, wooden covered bridges!

 

Also meanwhile, those running the game may skew it any which way that favors them and their agendas but at "ground level", life goes on.

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Ricochetrider

This discussion is as pathetic as kicking a dying dog. Rather than the "Ship Of Fools", a better choice for inspiration would be the central panel of Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights...never seen so many NPCs in one image.

Re Rodeo shot. I'm not sure how this really shows some kind of government neglect. How could one beautify a ramp onto a road realistically? These are perforce utilitarian structures. We could of course not have roads at all and revert to farm tracks and non-metalled toll roads, but that is not a sensible option either. The Romans built some beautiful roads and aqueducts, but they had slave labor and they can't handle modern traffic. Modern civilization comes with deficits.

Some think artists are half-crazy, and for the great artists, half is just the beginning.

This discussion is as pathetic as kicking a dying dog. Rather than the "Ship Of Fools", a better choice for inspiration would be the central panel of Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights...never seen so many NPCs in one image.

 

You denigrate the thread on one hand yet I note that you did choose to respond- thus supporting the discussion, via your participation, on the other hand.

 

2 pages in with a fair amount of both discussion & photos... indicates to me that this is widely seen as a topic that's at least somewhat worthwhile...

"Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights..."

I like it, a provocative and ambitious single image to try and sum it up. That would be something to see. Or do!

We have been seeing some lunacy depicted in photos of our recent news. Not least of all would be the teargassing photo of protestors along side the photo of a bible raised in front of a church by the USA president. For a photo op!

Edited November 29, 2021 by inoneeye

Given all the picture manipulation software that a available, is a 'picture worth a thousand words'.

How do you know the picture actually shows what was originally captured by the film or sensor?

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

~ H.L. Mencken

Given all the picture manipulation software that a available, is a 'picture worth a thousand words'.

How do you know the picture actually shows what was originally captured by the film or sensor?

You don't.

 

In many cases, the point of a photo is overtly not to show an "accurate" picture of what was before the sensor. Photographers throughout history have made photos to show a particular perspective, to express themselves, to tell emotional truths that don’t necessarily rely on what an accurate representation can tell.

 

I advocate healthy skepticism when it comes to photos that claim accuracy. I think it's important to take into consideration the history and reputation of the source in those cases.

 

And I advocate photographers continue to message, communicate, and express personal points of view, using photography's full potential as an artistic and communicative medium beyond its ability to be representationally accurate.

 

I try to take responsibility for my viewing habits. I don't believe everything I see in a photo and I don't care about accuracy when it doesn't seem relevant to the message or import of the photo.

 

"Art is a lie that tells the truth." —Picasso

 

I try to keep straight the kind of photo I'm looking at. And I always check second and third sources to verify, though that can be difficult at times and, especially today, many sources simply piggyback on other sources without concern for verification.

 

Buyer beware!