black and white: then to now A 'Have Next to Nothing' Helping a 'Have Even Less' -- (What Happens When Pension Plans Fail)

This photo was taken Tuesday, after dark, iso 1600 (note time difference if you have not experienced darkness on Tuesday yet, as this was taken 7 to 10 time zones away from the USA.

 

John (Crosley)

 

Image copyright 2007, all rights reseved, John Crosley

Pension long ago failed because of runaway inflation in Eastern

Europe. This hunchback old woman, with cane gives a present to this

beggar woman with open sores on her legs on Kiev, Ukraine's main and

most prestigious street (its equivalent of NYC's Park or 5th

Avenue). Ukraine's and many of the former Soviet Union's old people

are destitute because their fixed income pensions have been robbed of

purchasing power by several bouts of runaway inflation (now in

check), giving a view of what happens if pension plans in general

fail to care for older people. Your good faith ratings and critiques

are invited and most welcome. If you rate harshly or very

critically, please submit a helpful and constructive comment; please

share your superior photographic knowledge to help improve my

photography. Thanks! Enjoy (or at least be edified) John

This photo, though marginal, may be bound for my Presentation on 'Threes in my Photography', as the male figure, upper left, serves to 'balance out' the distribution of mass within the photo's left/bottom/light side.

 

John (Crosley)

This photo is also a very good color photo; I chose to desaturate it so as not to detract from its primary message, but may post it in color also.

 

John (Crosley)

It is a very compelling image - we all have much to learn about the lessons of giving. This image sends me away with tears. You took a great image.

Sometimes I know when I've taken a 'great one' and sometimes not.

 

This time there was no doubt.

 

I doubt if I'll ever see such a scene again.

 

I could hardly imagine what was happening before my eyes; a hunchback woman slowly moving towards the beggar woman -- time to take seven photos with my camera set to continuous drive (the former 'motor drive') and then JPEGs and NEFs simultaneously (this is a JPEG) for a total of 14 or so frames in color, all of which could be desaturated through channel mixer, as I did here.

 

The color photos were pretty compelling too, as the colors worked out nicely too. With a variety of photos, I could choose my background, eliminating a distracting guy to the left, without cropping, choosing the facial expression on the beggar woman and choosing the stride of the man, upper left, all within a period of two or two and a half seconds.

 

However, in keeping with the theme of 'starkness' I decided to post in black and white, though actually the colors were 'right on' and not bothered by any issues of multiple color casts from differing light sources and thus the color version was pretty sound and stood on its own. (I may post it here or somewhere else some day -- just as an alternative).

 

I am glad it moved you; you surely have a heart and some empathy.

 

I was moved too; my companion for me gave each woman some money (I don't give money directly so I can be identified as the donor, lest I be followed by beggars or seen as a 'soft touch' and mostly confine my giving to the old pensioners who have a hard life.)

 

I may be a 'soft touch' for the right circumstance, but it has to be the right circumstance, as I see some godawful things that I document from time to time, and if I gave money each time, I'd be out of money and in short time, would have no resources for documenting anything.

 

Bless you, Jan, for your kind heart.

 

John (Crosley)

When I first took the photo, I thought the offering from one woman to the next was money. I was wrong.

 

When I viewed the blowups of this photo, I saw that this was a carefully prepared package, somewhat like a cheesecloth package of something special -- a specially-prepared 'gift' for someone badly in need of a gift, and obviously something that the hunchback woman with a cane either prepared in advance with care or she had been shopping and was moved to give it away.

 

Since I had been on the sidewalk and the hunchback woman suddenly moved sideways, I am given to the thesis that she was moved to give away something precious she was carrying, and on an impulse.

 

It had at first dawned on me and my companion (model Nina, depicted elsewhere) that the two were working in tandem, with the invalid woman, right, unable to pick up donations and the hunchback woman working as a 'team member' picking up donations for the two and sharing them. But the hunchback woman seems more affluent and less afflicted despite her hunchback; she has possessions enough to carry a shopping bag, for instance, and they do NOT carry her life's possessions and so do NOT indicate she lives on the street.

 

The size and shape of the 'cheesecloth' type package belies the thought they worked in tandem. If it had been a 'cash' donation. and I never ever spoke to these women, or ever seen them again, I never would have known the truth, but given the 'gift' nature of the package, I think I can state with some certainty that these two women were NOT panhandling together. (For non-native English speakers, 'panhandling' refers to the act of begging, with the name of the handle of the one-time outstretcherd 'pan' to donate in, being used as a symbol for the act of begging, I presume.)

 

I am not sure how I could have improved on this shot, except to post-process it with greater care (labor over it for hours, picking nits, which is not my nature, as to me the image is almost everything in such 'street' photos.)

 

John (Crosley)

It certainly looks to be a gift of food. But no matter what it is, this old woman has made "contact" with this beggar. Sometimes a smile is all they need. We have panhandlers here too but many of them are mentally ill. Our healthcare system is failing miserably and so many mentally unwell people cannot hold down jobs nor even care for themselves. Their families are not equipped to handle that kind of mental illness so they end up on the streets. And then the "more fortunate" do everything they can to have them removed from their sites and in front of their stores and apartments. In this photo you have shown "humanity". I would like to see the colour rendition some day.

A really beautiful shot, John!

Very sad world we are living in : (

 

Biliana

A once in a lifetime sort of shot, I think you agree.

 

I was touched, and I saw it coming; the woman, left, veered to her right and it was clear she was moving to the woman alms seeker, right, so I moved forward and across and was there to document the whole thing and frame it correctly (at least I hope so, and that includes not cropping it too tightly) -- I wanted to keep this a pure 'street' photo, which meant including pretty much of the street, although I had much chance to crop it tighter.

 

This is a full-frame photo; with my luxury or time (a second or three), I had a chance to fire my camera shutter several times, to allow a change in the background figure's stride over time and to include/exclude another passerby without having to resort to cropping outside the camera.

 

What luxury!

 

I think one sometimes has to be prescient to be a street photographer.

 

But then again, sometimes one wheels around and 'there it is', and one has only a split fraction of a second to get that shot before it disappears, or it's captured.

 

This was a 'luxury' shot for me with a couple or three seconds to capture and frame it -- not my 'usual' 'street' capture of this genre where I have a split second to capture and frame it (although this wasn't a whole lot more).

 

This is a time to write about 'construction' and 'deconstruction' of street scenes.

 

Over time, scenes are 'constructing' and 'deconstructing' all the time, and it is the photographer's job to be there when the scene is right for recording. If the photographer is quick, he can instantly 'see' a scene just as it matures, as I sometimes can do; other times, if he is prescient, he can see a scene maybe developing and follow it as it constructs to whatever 'ripeness' or 'maturity' it is going to reach. One must have, among other things, a knowledge of vectors (motion, velocity and direction) together with a knowledge of past and predicted as well as predictable human behavior in order best to take advantage of constructing scenes best to follow those which are more likely than not to mature into something photoworthy.

 

And, of course, one has to have 'instinct' and 'experience' from following those scenes to fruition, to know or expect to know which scenes are going to bear fruit.

 

And if one starts with a scene, and only is given to taking one photo, that may be the wrong photo, so one must start by taking any sort of photo as soon as a scene nears fruition and then keep taking them (unless one has no film/memory space left). This is a difference between a Leica photographer and a digital Nikon photographer. A Leica film photographer without motor advance or Leicavit does not have the advantage of firing more than once and so must aim for just the exact moment and surely misses a number of them.

 

With a 5 frames per second (assuming maximum shutter speed which never is reached), the photographer can slam on the 'C' drive if necessary (or not -- I don't always), as a scene approaches its epitome or climax. I often wait just for the precise moment and shoot just that shot, but if things are moving fast, my glasses are fogged or my viewfinder is not showing things so well, I may hit the 'C' drive just out of care to ensure I don't miss an essential part of a scene.

 

Sooner or later, scenes deconstruct -- they just fall apart.

 

That happened when this old woman, left, gave her 'present' to the alms seeker, right.

 

It was all over then.

 

The photograph opportunity vanished then.

 

If one hesitated to take the photograph at that time, it was gone forever.

 

To take such a photo presupposes these things.

 

1. The camera is present and around one's neck or in one's hand and not in a camera bag (a camera in a camera bag might as well be in deep storage).

 

2. The lens cap is not on (I don't even know where my lens caps are.

 

3. The focus point on autofocus is set to the agreeable place for the photo (When I approach a scene, I often analyze the scene to determine what point I want to place my focus point on, looking down at the LCD screen atop my Nikon D200s or D2X(s)s and then set the focus point where I want it (and also set the focus point mode to where I want it (single point, single point, to change as the focal point changes and group focal point -- and within group focal point, whether it's nearest focus or center focus). Finally, in rare occasions, especially in shooting sports-like scenes or with an isolated subject, I'll resort to 'nearest-focus' mode in autofocus (there are four modes on a Nikon high-end camera).

 

And, the Nikon high-end cameras have a choice to 'set' the focus point to 'center' by pressing the multi-indicator in the center, which is the preferred choice of several for me. I just hit the center of the multi-function button with the camera turned on (shutter depressed halfway first), then the focus point jumps to the center. If I then need to make an adjustment, I can then make it, referring to the camera-top screen.

 

Next, one has to have chosen a proper ISO, which one should have chosen every time one's lighting changes. I often go into and out of 'subways' and 'undergrounds' or 'metropolitans' and each time I change my ISO to suit the circumstance. It's extra work but it's rewarding and takes only a second or two with practice.

 

When one does that, one also has to predetermine what sort of aperture to set if one is on aperture preferred shooting as I recommend (because of control over depth of field -- one can learn to live with shorter or longer shutter speeds, as those assuredly will vary according to aperture chosen on aperture preferred auto shooting.

 

Sometimes, of course, I will choose 'manual' exposure if 'auto' is going to make a mistake, but refer first to the 'auto' selections and measure results by the 'auto' results.

 

All that having been done, then is the time to walk the street, so that one then can walk the street not only in daytime with the shutter set at 1/1000th f 11 with ISO 400 Tri-X as I once did with early cameras including Leicas, but one can walk the streets at night, indoors, in Metros, etc., and especially using Vibration Reduction (V.R.) lenses, then one can be a 'street' photographer in almost any circumstances.

 

Then sundown becomes a 'friend' as opposed to the enemy it might be to the Leica photographer shooting film, unless they push that film. Rangefinder focusing at night is difficult -- very nearly impossible and still difficult during the day, so most Leica photographers just 'stop down' for comfort and many shoot primarily in strong light or scenes in which they have a comfortable time to focus.

 

With the tips above and a good auto everything digital SLR, those restrictions can be overcome, and the 'street' tackled at any time of day or night -- even at 2:00 a.m. if there's a smidgen of light -- sometimes even moonlight with a 'fast' (large maximum aperture) lens.

 

© 2007, John S. Crosley, all rights reserved, first publication 2007.

 

[pardon me, Ruud for copyrighting my comment, but I'm writing about this subject, and this is a test run, and I don't want to place my thoughts in the public domain, unprotected]

 

With those thoughts in mind, taking a photograph like this, on the run, is not so difficult at all. All that's required is to find a 'scene' like this, and one is 'pre-prepared'.

 

Ruud, I always enjoy finding an encouraging comment of yours on a photo of mine; it means that photo has 'arrived'.

 

John (Crosley)

There are two ways of looking at this photo:

 

1. Life is helpless and this is proof; there are poor people on the street abandoned.

 

2. Life is full of hope; no matter how down and out a person becomes, someone (even someone nearly as down and out) will step forward and lend a helping hand and show a bit of love.

 

You can choose which world view you wish to see, or perhaps your world view is already set.

 

(Maybe both views co-exist, and are not mutually exclusive).

 

Best regards,

 

John (Crosley)

Very impressive shot, John.regards,maria

A once in a lifetime shot, I think, don't you?

 

(Unless this is their nighttime ritual . . . which didn't seem apparent from the actions of the woman, left.)

 

John (Crosley)

I followed her tonight (Saturday, Eastern European time), and people offered her, without her asking for anything, money -- quite a few people. In all, in a few blocks, she had maybe ten offerings, as she moved along with her steel expandable cane, hunched over. People would reach into their pockets or purses when they saw her coming and she's even wait for them, slowing down if she knew an offering was forthcoming, but she is NOT a beggar per se; she merely accepts handouts, if that makes sense.

 

God Provides, maybe is her motto, and having a very prominent hunchback surely helps greatly.

 

In return, she has here passed off some of her largess in the form of a present, to a real beggar, someone who cannot even really walk to beg; a woman with real sores on her legs; a person that 'Christ' would have taken pity on and might even have healed (if you're a Christian and believe in the New Testament and that sort of thing).

 

It's a Holy Passion Play on the streets of Kiev, played out nightly.

 

I have a similar shot, taken tonight that also is Biblical, though more so, which I'll upload as a color upload; it made me cry (and still does), just to see it (and I'm not particularly a believer).

 

John (Crosley)

Such a GREAT, GREAT, GREAT photograph. I do not have the words to describe this, nor do I think it needs any.

 

From a human point of view, of course, this is a very difficult photo to stomach, because it is what happens when a few people loot a nation, where somebody is investing hundreds of millions buying football players in Europe with the proceeds of some other people's life's work.

Thanks for the accolade; this is definitely one of my better photos, although, as you said, 'hard to stomach' And harder still in color because it shows the open and scabbed sores on the leg of the seated woman.

 

It has been suggested that these women 'worked in pairs' but because I have the ability to have seen these people and this scene over time, I can say that I followed the woman, leftmost for a while before she came onto the seated beggarwoman, and the erect (well barely) woman was NOT panhandling, though I recall someone stopped her to give her a handout which she did NOT solicit.

 

Now, it may be that in other times or places she was a panhandler/solicitor (panhandling is a harsh word for what such women engage in), but not that particular evening.

 

I was moved almost to tears and also literally was moved to tears by another scene, found posted on another site, with a similar theme, only that one with a woman, standing, giving a seated beggarwoman a cucumber which she had started to eat, and thus the top part was bitten off. Yet, even though it was the walking woman's meal (Russians and Ukrainians are particularly fond of cucumbers it seems), she literally took it from her mouth to give to another woman.

 

I felt this site could not stand two such photos taken from the same street, so nearly identical, and if you wish to view the other, I can't post a link here without, I think, offending Administration, so contact me if you want a way to see it. (I don't play politics with this site or any other, and respect the ownership rights of respective Administrations not to have their sites cross-referenced). I know it would unsettle me if I ran a photo site and there were hot links (or even just links) to another site, especially if there had been previous unhappiness between two site operators.

 

So, just e-mail me if you want a link -- and to some other photos not posted here and which may never be posted here. (I have a prodigious output, and one site sometimes seems not enough.)

 

I am very happy my depiction of this moment -- even my capture of it -- caused you some 'aesthetic and moral delight' despite the subject of depiction. Maybe you can consider this like some of Brueghel's characters, -- you know the early Middle Ages Dutch painter who painted worldly scenes, but some of his minor characters, at say, a wedding feast, or other scenes, were something to behold for their characterization. Look up (if you won't know it by heart), the wedding feast he painted, and then look at the minor or supporting characters and what care Bruegel put into painting them.

 

Instead of just depicting a wedding in his picture, (which was a say of documenting it), Bruegel undertook a study of Middle Ages Dutch life with the amazing characters that populated the time, and those characters have received as much or more critical acclaim and study than the main paintings themselves.

 

I very much appreciate that you took the time and effort to analyze this photo (regardless of your ultimate accolade, for I learn even from those who are displeased by my photos or find a particular photo less than 'great' or even less than mediocre (as a few have from time to time).

 

By the way, (I may have noted it above) but I literally raced (at my 'racing pace' to capture this photo. It came on me suddenly, and I moved towards this pair with my camera firing, and stutter-stepping (to hold an even stance with camera steady with each shot), before I caught this ultimate moment.

 

This is one case where a study of my original film sequence might be very instructive on how I take particular photos now (as opposed, say, to older photos where I got only one chance before I had to rewind with my thumb on advance lever).

 

Thanks for the honest effort (not for the conclusion); as thanking you for a conclusion would amount to a certain form of self-congratulation on my part, which I try to avoid (not always successfully).

 

I am very grateful for your viewpoint (whether an accolade or not) and for almost all others when they come from a place of honesty and integrity.

 

******

 

Oh, as to the 'soccer' player remark, I am at a loss.

 

If there were some political bigwig who looted the public treasury in Ukraine and send this poor woman (seated) into penury, that would be one thing.

 

I am aware of Boris Berezovsky of London, a former Soviet businessman who made a fortune first by selling 'Lada' brand autos in a time of hyperinflation, and since the price was fixed at the factory at that time, he paid a low factory price that got lower and lower in purchasing power as hyperinflation took hold, and the market price per auto zoomed into the stratosphere. Berezovsky was a Russian businessman, who saw an opportunity, and the 'Lada' manufacturer (Zhiguli?) was the real loser in that drama.

 

Berezovsky pocketed the difference between a low factory price, stupidly fixed for a year in rubles, and sold the cars at market price, which was usually in YE (dollar equivalents, which over time amounted to greater and greater amounts of rubles), and he and now owns one of the famous British football teams and he resides in England, in exile.

 

He was the apparent secondary target of the man who recently was killed by radioactive poisoning, if one believes allegations

 

That man, a friend and associate of Berezovsky, allegedly was to 'assassinate' Berezovsky, but instead turned the tables and told Berezovsky, allowing him to escape assassination.

 

Subsequently that man, the man alleged to be a turncoat assassin, was killed by poisoning by a rare radioactive substance.

 

But who knows did the actual targeting of that man; the Russian regime which had a personal grudge against Berezovsky, an original 'oligarch', or was it something planned by Berezovsky himself?

 

The dead man, before he expired, blamed the Russians, but who can know for sure.

 

We thought we knew many things about our government in the US, but found the were spying on nearly everyone in the 1960s and 1970s and even went so far as to undercut the Black Panthers breakfast program and to try to undermine many black power leaders in certain philanthropic ventures designed to help black people. And the list goes on, from an admitted Gulf of Tonkin 'torpedo' that now it is acknowledged to one ever really saw (if it existed at all) and even former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, one of the architects of the Vietnam war, going around at the end of his life apologizing for the war.

 

Imagine.

 

And imagine our country (the US) having been involved in torture, degradation, running places where people could be put secretly into prisons and then shuffled around the world with no acknowledgment of their having been 'captured' and no charges ever having been made -- all antithetical to our system of government and what we call 'Procedural and substantive Due Process) which is part of what makes the USA such a strong and wonderful country. There were bad things happening during the Viet Nam war and some bad things happening now, including that anyone in the US or outside the US may presently have ALL their communications monitored (quite illegally, usually) by the US authorities, and all in contravention of any Constitutional court or law, in my opinion.)

 

SO the world of political shenanigans runs into the netherworld of obscurity, both politically and intellectually; no one I know knows all the facts. And it is not just confined to dictatorships outside the US or failing banana republics; it has happened equally at home. Consider that the FBI helped mobster Sam Giancanna wiretap and/or eavesdrop illegally on a famous comedian (Dan Rowen) to find out whether that comedian was having an affair with a mobster's girlfriend and all so they could tell the mobster, San Giancana, who allegedly was helping the US try to assassinate Fidel Castro.

 

Berezovsky is the only instance of a famous rich guy who has paid enormous sums to buy 'soccer' [football] players I am aware of, who might have some relationship (in your mind) to this woman's pension, but in my mind the connection fails.

 

Is there such a man in Ukraine?

 

In any case, no such person ever looted the Ukrainian treasury enough to 'rob' this woman's pension -- though the current 'reform' government claims to have stepped in for a leadership they claim was corrupt, but themselves are dogged by charges of corruption and (without a doubt) incomptency.

 

So, now there is a fight and a stalemate in politics between the pro-Western President and the pro-Russian Prime Minister and their respective forces -- all of which is to lead to a September election.

 

But I am unaware of how any of the people I am know of could have looted this poor woman's pension.

 

You see, there were two bouts of hyperinflation after bank failures in Russia (and also in Ukraine), one shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Christmas Eve 1991, and another just about ten years later, which left the Russian ruble and related currencies in freefall.

 

Since pensions almost always are fixed to a given or set amount payable monthly, it is inflation which robs these people because when the currency is devalued, the pensions generally are not raised; all the fault of larger economic forces --

not any particular businessman or politician's attempts to bolster a football team.

 

In fact, Ukraine will co-host with Poland FIFA 2012, ('football's' world championship), and that is sure to boost the local economy and give both of these women a financial boost (if they manage to survive that long).

 

Indeed, that is one case where 'football' may indeed help instead of hurt, as you suggested. (The sport itself is 'neutral'.)

 

I suppose if there is a certain person you wished to comment on, that person may have some culpability for shenanigans, but that person cannot have 'robbed' this woman of her pension -- that wa

Action speaks louder than words and a picture is worth a thousand words. This capture encapsulates the golden rule "Love thy neighbor as thyself". You deserve a standing ovation maestro.

I'm no maestro -- that suggests I lead some sort of 'orchestra' or do 'orchestration'.

 

I'm a loner generally with my camera, though I will take an assistant with me from time to time.

 

I 'get off' by taking a great photo, and I was very happy with this one.

 

But each time I think I've taken a 'great' photo, the raters tell me generally otherwise. 'Street' is generally not so popular on Photo.net where it competes with 'set-up' shots where everything is controlled, so there always is a better way to 'stage' a shot for more effectivenss and greater technical qualities.

 

But I 'make do' with what I have -- my brain, my equipment, my (ailing) feet and legs, and my ability to think while on my (ailing) feet.

 

And I'm willing to run to a place where a photo opportunity appears, such as the above, risking embarrassment others might feel, or even those who might be with me (a condition of going out with me is that no one chide me for 'taking off' for a minute or 15 to take likely photos, but generally my companions relish the opportunity because they know I'm searching for great photos.

 

Sometimes I find them.

 

Other times I don't.

 

Maestros almost never have poor performances; I do, many times.

 

But thank you for the kind accolade.

 

John (Crosley)

Truth is not an accolade.

Touchee.

 

I'll accept the compliment.

 

Thanks so much.

 

John (Crosley)