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Powerful photo, as is the entire folder.

This is one of several "street pictures" I took on a recent visit to

San Francisco. Many of these less fortunate individuals reside around

the Glide Church area of San Francisco. I have several more shots in

this series which I uploaded to my "workspace" here on photonet. I

don't know if I am permitted to have all of them critiqued here.

One of those photos I wish I had the guts to take, because the payoff is so high. I would like to see his face though. However, if I can't, the head is in the perfect position; pointing down, depressed.

mixed feelings ,exellent as a photo very powerfull and speaks for itself, but the subject, hard to look at and really takes guts to shot as Will said.

 

very emotional photo.

Great photo, great subject. And I agree it takes guts to shoot something like this, I am not sure I could have...

I really like the head being down. I don't feel I need to see the face to feel the essence of this person's situation. Good work.

I like the picture.Not seeing this man's face highlightens the fact that we usually see "the homeless" not the person.I work with homeless people and often not being recognized as people, not having a face is the hardest thing to take.

Everyday life, it's Art!

I like the photo. I thought I did not like the recognisable car in the background but then I realised that gives the photo more context. Great photo!

I really can't get past the appalling error in framing/composition.

Street photography has always interested me .When I first started , I went to Rockefeller center . My thinking was , it would be easy to start photographing the tourists , because they are pretty timid .And it was . However, I realized that photos of them would never be interesting because they were like captive animals in a zoo . To capture real interaction , you need to look for "wild animals" , ones that act freely . Sure the risk of being attacked increases , but at least you are capturing real behavior/human interaction . One key element is that you do it face on , not with a tele lens or when they're not looking . This photo fails not only because it shows us something we already know , but because it was taken when the subject was looking down . It's a distant shot . Anyone could have taken this shot this way .

 

 

Prior to its selection as POW, this photo received 30+ ratings, and had a slightly above average rating. I think this was more or less right, and I wonder what agenda the elves have this week, since presenting an excellent photograph does not seem to be it.

 

It is apparently a snapshot through the window of a car. While the subject is somewhat compelling, the composition is very weak. I think the fact we don't see the subject's face further weakens the image, making the focal point the sign.

This is not just "art", this is humanity. Thank you for reminding me of humility.

I disagree . Humanity is helping the man . Better yet helping change the way public policy deals with homelessness . This is simply exploitation . His life is no better now .

This is my first comment, I think, on a POTW and I do know that tensions run high here, so I will be as polite as possible. Though it's a good picture, it does not elicit much emotion for me because I see this all the time. If you want a homeless shot that makes you think for a while, check this one out:

homeless people in boston by mike czepiel

paul.

Great photo. Very difficult to erase from memory.

I agree with Brian's comment above. The main problem is that a picture should not be evaluated by such criteria as what it could have been IF shot properly. Good try, but this is about it.

Thanks for publishing this timely and timeless image.It should serve as a reminder of the ever increasing gap between the truly needy and the wealthy.Here, the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth, we continue to underserve, the most needy among'st us. This is shameful. While the Enron Exec's pocket millions, after shirking their fiduciary responsibility, we are left with this reminder, of what this once great country has become...a nation for the powerful,with laws written that only benefit them and theirs.Jefferson, would no longer recognize this once great nation.

Gosh, I'm already drooling over the comments this one will provoke.

 

I'm really surprised at this selection. Maybe a picture like this is a revelation for those who don't live in major urban areas. For me, it is a pretty routine rendering of a pretty routine scene. Hate to say it, but it's true.

 

If the elves wanted to pick a photo of homeless people with a unique perspective or interesting emotional content, they could have done much better. (See, e.g., the link posted above.)

 

But -- apart from its artistic merit -- this picture is not exploitative. I know some of Ian MacEachern's shots have engendered a discussion on that topic, and I'm of the mind that there's social good in documentary work, whether the photographer handed the guy a fiver or not. Would it be any better if the photographer wrote an essay about this guy instead of taking his picture?

The poor guy already only has one good foot to stand on and then you go and chop part of that off yet too. Way to go. PS: Do you actually get these people to sign a model release or is that too confrontational?

 

Im not against biographical documentation of the poor in order to create public awareness, but I would like to know if you actually took the time to get to know these people, or did you just shoot them and run? I would really like to know WHY the photographer took these pictures.

 

This is one of those pictures that me think. It shows what some of the world can be like. Great picture! His sighn seems to say what he has been through.

that a really good picture.....words cant explain........creativity is good...

I could take a ton of these kinds of photos in Boulder, Colorado. I have been tempted to, but it's not my cup of tea. I know, someone's going to tell me, why don't I? Well, read two sentences before this one. Not having a face doesn't pull me into it. I'm beginning to wonder if a lot of what appeals to photo viewers is what appeals to someone reading poetry or literature, read a lot into things without first seeing what's really there.

Man, you folks are tough. Thanks to all who have commented on this picture both pro and con. I appreciate the imput. To those of you who in one way or another have inquired about my motivation for taking the picture or otherwise feel offended by the subject matter, please take the time to look at the rest of my street scenes in my portfolio. What I try to do -admittedly with varying degrees of success- is to document "slices" of everyday life. Nothing "contrived". If it elicits a "response" in me -any type of response- I try to capture it. The lighting, backround, framing, etc. are not always "perfect" but that is exactly what makes street photography (aside from the subject matter) interesting and appealing to me. I am not in a studio where I control the composition,lighting, etc. More often than not I have one opportunity to capture an image, episode, or event and I have learned to seize that opportunity because I may never get a second chance. And while I may not spend the "time" to get to know all the subjects of my photos I do spend the time walking up and down the streets carrying my photo gear and not in a studio with props, lighting equipment, models, and the latest photo software program loaded on my computer. Please don't interpret that statement as a criticism of other "types" of photography. I am merely trying to express what "photographic subject matter" or type of "photography" appeals to me the most. Thank you.

By the criteria used on this site, it is a 6 in Aesthetics for me, and an 8 for originality... but I'm not very enthusiastic about having to rate this picture the traditional way... By the way the originality rating is a rating for the words written, no longer for the image... Last 2 weeks, there has been a lot of talks about technique, here again there would be... but this image is very much out of reach for all possible technical comments. Its value is just not Aesthetical at all. The aim of the shot is clear, it is a message. Which message ? Well, the one written on the board... That's probably the elves' reason for choosing this: to somehow remind us that certain things are beyond technicality... that the message in an image is stronger than its appearance... In that sense, I do accept and in a way agree with this pick... Nevertheless, the message of this picture does not exactly " TELL a thousand words... It rather SHOWS a few words... a few VERY POWERFUL words, on a board... If this POW is about photography, then I just don't get it. To me, it's about words... and about Life... Shots like this one are thousands, the only difference being what's written on this board... I see no real art in this capture, but it certainly has the merit of delivering a very strong message - in words... What's for sure, is that I will, as a father, think these words over and over, and that's a great thing this image surely accomplished !...