Speaker's Corner, London

The many faces of a human drama. This photo is timeless, could be shot in Dickens's time or nowadays.The laughing faces, on the right, and sympathetic faces, on the background, are not only mirrors of the personal drama, but also fragments of the big face of the social drama involved. It is not an English manner to show emotions in public but this man is ruined, he has lost the meaning of his life, the will to live, the normal way to approach other people. He is just finished. A sad story brilliantly narrated by the photographer. Congratulations, Tony. Blago

Ahhh, yes, it's about time! Congratulations Tony and thank you for participation here at photo.net.

Nice. Reminds me of a daytime version of this Weegee shot:

 

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/W/weegee/weegee_critic_full.html

To me, this is what street photography is all about.

Cartier-Bresson is the master of this sort of image, but yours

could sit proudly along side his classics. You've captured the

look and feel of the 70's, while also capturing the timeless

tragedy that is wealth and poverty. Decadence transcending

brotherhood, or something like that. A very decisive moment,

brilliantly composed, and loaded with emotion, irony, and poetry.

 

Tony, another of your images was of a "bum" (for lack of a better

word), whom you later felt guilty for having photographed. I was

never sure how to feel about it, as it did seem mildly predatory,

but was nevertheless a powerful image. The Speaker's Corner

image here makes amends for any question about the other.

You have shown your humanity and compassion in this image.

I'm not particularly religious, but this photo makes me think of

Christ carrying the cross or something similar from one of those

masterful old paintings of Titian or his contemporaries.

 

This is the first POW in some weeks where I suspect there will

be little, if no disagreement over it's merit.

 

Thanks, Tony.

Aside from the images themselves what I most enjoy of Tony's portfolio is how it demonstrates that the most important lens is behind the camera, not in front of it.

 

Excellent image.

Out of curiousity, Tony, when you took this photograph, did you

consciously make the decision to find this sort of scene, or did

you simply happen across it, Leica in hand, and allow your

instincts to take over? I find street photography very difficult for a

number of reasons. One dilemma I've faced in the times I've

gone out looking for shots is: is it best to walk around as a

hunter of images, or do you simply find a place and wait for the

image you want to come to you? I gather from Cartier-Bresson's

writings that he just strolled around with his Leica in his hand

looking for decisive moments. What do you think? Any advice to

the struggling street shooter?

Great Photo.

The comments bother me a bit. A photo doesn't have to address a political issue, or fit into a certain philisophical tenet to be good art.

 

and I dont see anyone resembling George Bush.

This is a classic street shot, congrat, Tony!

 

The first thing caught my eyes was the man at the back (somebody here thinks he's Bush's father) laughing at the bum. Maybe that guy was not actually laughing at the bum, but just giggling with his friends, but Tony captured the right moment! Then I noticed different expression on different people. Most people were chattering except the bum who was looking down and walking lonely. The contradiction between the bum and people surrounding him makes this photo alive. I can almost hear people murmuring, and while doing this, they manage to take a look at the bum doesn't fit in the scene. And because the bum is placed at the main focus (3 men in the photo were looking at him, left, right & back), Tony allows me to dig into the bum's situation, and hear the echo of noises around him.

 

This is a perfect photo. The only bad thing I can point out is maybe the sky on the top of the left can be burned with a lower filter to give it a warmer look, but this is not a big problem to me at all because the circulation of expressions of the people is enough to pull my attention out of the total white of the sky.

 

Somebody on this board mentioned "exploitation of the homeless". I photograph homeless people a lot, and exploitation is really something I'm very careful of. I think Tony overcame this problem effortlessly. Exploitation doesn't exist here because Tony is not merely showing the homeless guy's poorness, but he's using him as a major element to show the different CLASSES in England. This photo reminds me, frankly, Pulp's classic album "Different Class".

 

Aesthetics 7, originality 6.

Wang, it was me that mentioned "exploitation of the homeless", and I agree that such explotation does not exist here... on the contrary, this image is more about the arrogant, imperious reactions of the middle and upper classes to this homeless man's plight than it is about the man himself. I merely raised the topic because it wouldn't necessarily surprise me if someone (not me) attempts to make an "issue" out of this "non-issue".

This is the kind of photo that both amazes and frustrates me. It amazes me because it is, well, amazing. It is frustrating because when I see something like this, I'm inspired to think, "Moments like this DO exist -- and they CAN be caught on film by modern-day mortals -- and I CAN go outside and do it myself." Then I go outside and do it myself, and get my film back, and look at it, and wonder what hallucinogen I was under when I entertained the notion that I could generate something in the same ballpark.

 

The discussion about this photo is well-developed without POW status -- most Photo.netters have stumbled across it already. What strikes me most about the shot is what Vuk said in an ancient comment above: It's more like a "bloody movie" than a photograph. The businessman looking down at the homeless man, smirking ... the sideburned youth laughing at how easy life is ... the oblivious woman in the fur coat ... the swath cut through the crowd to the bearded man in the back, looking at the camera ... And, of course, the homeless man himself. Capturing all of these things in a single frame is really extraordinary.

 

Dammit, though, it's frustrating.

... and has linked to it in his "technical details" field up top. For anyone who hasn't seen it or much of Tony's work, go take a look; it explains the circumstance, the framing, etc. When you're done there, check out some of his other folders - he's done a number of explanation shots that show the setup of some of his work and they are incredibly valuable learning tools for anyone interested.

 

As for this particular shot, I'm with the rest of the crowd - awestruck, for the most part, and wondering what took so long to get it up here as POW. Whenever I show someone photo.net and try to explain why I visit it, this shot and its accompanying explanation are ALWAYS on the tour. In my opinion, this is likely one of the best photos on the entire site, and as convincing as you can get if you're trying to show someone that there really are some good, accessable, photographers here.

 

Thanks Tony, for the great shot, for the explanation, and for participating so thoroughly here. You're an asset to the site.

 

-A

There's no doubt that this is an extremely good photo--one of the better photos on this site. However, I don't really see the wisdom in choosing a photo that many of us have already seen and admired (note the number of comments and ratings this had before it was named photo-of-the-week). Sadly, there's not much to be said about this that hasn't already been said. However, at least a superior PHOTOGRAPH will be gracing PHOTO.net's homepage this week!

Congratulations to Tony, for he's certainly deserving, both for his fine photography and for his sometimes uncomfortably lucid writing. Cheers!

This is really awesome. The image is ripe with contrasts and expressions, and the technical aspects are just right.

Tony.......here is an mage that truly merits the accolade 'POW'.

I was incredibly moved by this image, the desperate loneliness of this unforunate man, the sneering complacency of the spetators. There are many layers of meaning in this image, and of course it would have been impossible for you take them all in before you clicked the shutter. As I know from experience as a 'street photographer' (of your vintage, as it happens) serendipidity plays its part in placing us on the spot at the right time but the art lies in recognising the opportunity and seizing the moment.Congratulations!

About time. I was blown away by this shot last year when I saw it for the first time. There was another shot of a homeless man that had been chosen as POW and someone provided a link to Speaker's Corner as an example of a far superior image. I've been back to Tony's portfolio several times since then, and this shot continues to amaze each time I see it.

Homage to Bresson is perhaps more apt. A difficult balancing act to capture so many moments in one shot. The story belongs to each of us to decipher. I was imagining only the image to be of one person. One person in different stages of life. Surley we have all smirked, grimaced and been forlorn about our former selves or perhaps in thinking of where we may be in the future. Very lovely work. Excellent print quality as well.

This is really a treatise on our inhumanity: while other photographers attempt to make us feel pity by presenting us with a simple, pathetic subject, Tony's image is much more complex. It makes us examine ourselves and our sympathies: neither the homeless man nor the spectators are particularly appealing people, but in the end the spectators in this photo are truly repugnant. It makes me think about how many times my responses to people have been this inhuman.

It is a shot of many contrasts. Most notable for me are... The expressions of the people as they mingle and chat about the plight of man. The well-dressed confidently smiling man in the suit set against the sad scruffy man passing through with his home in a newspaper. Both the newspaper and the philosophical discussions are streets away from the man's thoughts which are likely on the next drink - not the finer points of debate. Reality against talk of reality.

It frankly seems a bit naive, or mischievous, on the part of the elves to place a classic Dummett photo into the POW position. We have all probably, upon making it through one of your frequent, eloquent and authoritative orations, returned to your portfolio to re-appreciate the basis of that authority. We study the Dummetts in comparison to the POW at hand and in comparison to our own work. In the photonet realm they have become a standard of comparison and, to me, have become familiar and iconic enough to be quite beyond the realm of spontaneous nitpicking that is the normal (and quite appropriate) subject of the POW discussions. Anxious as I might be to add my "wow - great photo" to the pow discussion, and anxious as I am to finally have an example of your opus maximus upon which to apply my cropping suggestions, I would instead like to offer a more general honorarium to one of the best photographers and teachers among us. You have created a standard first in your work and then in your tutelage - not to mention your pure entertainment value - from which we have all benefited for some time now. Thank you.

Nice job Tony. Now THIS is a great street picture. I love the wonderful expressions. My mind churnes at the possibilities. What was said? Why? Great tonal range. Composition is excellent. And the emotional content! Wow. I certainly would NOT hang it in my home, but I would love to see it published in almost any appropiate national magazine here or abroad. Generally speaking, homeless people do not do it for me, but this is MUCH more. I feel sad. Very sad.

Went to rate the image after I commented. Wouldn't let me go above 7 - even after refresh. Sigh. So I didn't rate. Would have been an 8-9.

Chico and many others have expressed my sentiments on this photothis is inhumanity at its best, and it shows the injustice of the human race. Unfortunately the flood of reactions to this man walking in the midst of the event could have been caused by the photographer himself and the expressions we see could be no more than a natural reaction to seeing this homeless man being photographed. Even if this is not the case, the mere fact that a camera is pointing at him will draw even more attention to him and hence, this is not the exact representation of what was naturally there. However this photograph has all the elements needed to draw attention to all aspects of life and even if the true scene was muddied by the presence of the photographer, nonetheless, it created a situation which shows humans as we aresometimes worse than animals.

Obviously the homeless man is the central character of the story and, I whole heartedly agree with Blagoy Tsenkulov when he describes the present state of this man. I liked his statement so much that Im repeating it here and highlighting what this photo undeniably screams out. This man is RUINED, he has lost the MEANING of HIS life, the WILL to live, the NORMAL way to APPROACH other people. Perhaps it is this last statement which seemed most insightful, and descriptive of the psychological state of mind he finds himself at this point in his life. This photograph shows much more than the reaction of a common crowd, it shows who is reacting how and why. Surely this photo proves that money cant buy me love for it clearly shows that those who have the money are those who are more cold and indifferent to the pain and suffering of others. This photo clearly shows why we should do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

P.S. Isn't that Elvis on the right?

There is nothing more thrilling than to be appreciated by one's peers. To all of the commenters listed above I can only say thanks for the encouragement and for your (too) kind words.

I must also admit that I have, at times, crossed swords with some of the more illustrious of the names above (you know who you are). That you didn't take some of my more pointed barbs too seriously (when you could easily have) I extend my heartfelt gratitude. In order to carry out some of your more outrageous threats, you'd have had to go to too much trouble: catching a bus down from your various mountains, buying an airline ticket, a 14-hour plane ride, eighty-bucks in a Sydney taxi and then you'd have had put up with a licking from the dogs, the cat's white fur all over your trousers, a cold beer (or chardonnay) thrust into your hands and my dreadful cooking before you even struck the promised first blow (or, in one alarming case, fired the first bullet). It just wouldn't have been worth it, now, would it? I'm glad the hatchets have been buried, other than right between my eyes.

Sometimes the shock of being bluntly spoken to can jog us out of our comfort zones and propel us into a reassessment of our work and our attitudes towards it. I have certainly had my share of doomsayers, directing barbs at my own work and it has only served to encourage me to improve... if only to be able to say, "I told you so" when I (in my dreams, usually) emerge triumphant on the other side of whatever epiphany is being wished upon me. All this is another way of saying don't take my long commentaries as evidence of a malignant nature. I just like to see people with talent giving of their best; to never stop trying and to know that there is always a better way. In that knowledge lies real self-fulfillment.

Speakers' Corner is a wonderful place. At the time I took this picture I had no job and more to the point, no prospects. I did, however, have plenty of time on my hands. I used to buy a London tube ticket and just get off wherever my fancy took me, camera in hand and snap away. The aim was to tell a story worth telling.

Not all stories are about wars, or politics, or abject misery. Furthermore, many of the participants of a photographic story aren't aware that the photographer is including them in his pictorial montage. It is the photographer's job to bring the people in his picture together in ways that make sense. It is easy to make a portrait shot. It is easy to make a documentary of a crowd scene. It is harder to combine the two and make the image you capture a distillation of the events of the day in a way which both informs and interests your viewers.

I don't mind agreeing (with suitable dollops of modesty) that this is a pretty good shot. It is one of my favourites. I can say this honestly because I know how many other shots I have - thirty, twenty, ten, even one year old - languishing in negative files, never to be printed. Failures all of them.... and there are thousands. The message is: keep trying.

I have never felt sorry for the man in this photo. I was there and I heard his pitch. He had to have guts to stand up at the Speakers' Corner and say what he said. He took on the crowd, exciting various reactions from astonishment to pity. But he was always his own man. He had a kind of tenacious humanity; something to which, in spite of all his (mosly self-inflicted) woes, he could cling to. To me, his strength was in his hands, clinging to the pathetic plastic bag that contained (I guess) most of his worldly possessions. The others in the picture were his audience (and, in turn, their audience). He was working the crowd. The victory was his, not theirs.

One thing has always disturbed me about the phrase, "the decisive moment". It comes close to defining candid photography as some kind of sporting activity, requiring quick reflexes mostly, and the rest will follow. I once agreed with this interpretation, but no longer. Candid photography - successful candid photography - is about understanding your fellow man. It is about somehow knowing when that moment of decisiveness is about to occur. The more you develop the technique (it is very rarely perfected), the more you will find you understand your fellow human beings. What better aim in life could there be than to get to converse with them, to listen to them and to their points of view... to celebrate the ordinariness of the world around you without falling into the trap of doing so in an ordinary way? Bringing back photographs of your self-assigned labours serves as an aid to memory, and perhaps as an inspiration to others. Of one thing I'm sure: if we tried more to understand humanity, and the infinite variation of life, there would be less antagonism, more peace and it would be a better world for our children, and - equally importantly - the children of others.

Photo.net is, despite rumours to the contrary, a great place for learning and for the exchange of ideas, not only about photography, but (and I hope I have argued this competently) about life, living and friendship itself. T.S. Eliot, a keen observer, put it well...

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Rather than congratulate Tony, who has been a mentor to many of us; I would like to express my sincere condolences to the poor individual who is chosen to follow him next week. I imagine that person will bear an expression very similar to the main character shown here. I think the popular expression in politics is "A qualified, sacrificial lamb." I was thinking of nominating Mary Ball because I think I read once that she owned a little lamb in addition to being a qualified photographer.

 

This photograph reminded me of the lyrics from a song from mid seventies. "Equality quietly facing the fist, are you angry and tired that your point has been missed." This guy almost looks too tired to be angry. I can empathize with the point being missed, as it often is when people try to earnestly communicate their thoughts and ideas. He probably had no uploaded foldersErr; I mean money in his pocket or status in the community. I can't help seeing this excellent photograph as a general reflection of society; and whether or not intended by the moderators; as a more direct reflection of this forum. I wonder which of the characters shown would best represent my own persona.

 

It would be difficult to stage a photograph with as great a range of expression as depicted here. It might be done (after much study) by a very skilled and imaginative painter. It is pretty hard to imagine capturing it in a spontaneous photograph. It's also very humbling, considering the fact that Tony pulls these mini-miracles out of his magic hat on a regular basis.

 

Note to self: I hope that being selected for the POW (again) does not drive up the cost of owning a Tony Dummett print.