'Home(less) of the Free'

This mountain of blanket and garments conceals a woman(?) who, with

her tethered suitcases, spends her evenings under the ghostly glow of

the lighted Statue of Liberty at this bus shelter during a cold

winter's night in Los Angeles, perhaps giving a new twist to the

term 'bus shelter'. Your 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 more aware)! John

Hi, John. I don't claim any superior photographic talent, but here are my thoughts.. It is an interesting and thought provoking picture. Although you say it is a cold winter's night, it doesn't look it. I'm not saying it wasn't cold, it is just that the picture doesn't tell me that. The other thing is that, to me, the picture would be stronger if we could see something more of the person, something kind of hint so that the imagination can work and wonder more about the person. Could the sign have been worked into the picture? I look at the photo and want to know what the sign said! Is it "the thing has found us"? Regards, erik

Your comments are very good.

 

This was a busy street and I was in a bus/turn lane with busy traffic each time I circled the block.

 

I had no place to park, as I was lame, and could not get out to circle this scene on foot (plus the vantage would have required standing in a busy street at night, and I was wearing dark clothes).

 

I think you are right about the title of the movie (if it is a movie, since I have not heard that title, but then often I don't live or stay in the USA or view movies at all, except as an occasional treat when I'm someone's guest.

 

Now, about the person, I greatly regret that we don't see the person peeking out from under all that 'stuff', and indeed we are left to wonder just what is under that stuff -- probably someone who's completely psychotic as well as poor and not taking their meds, reacting poorly to them, or maybe just not controllable by meds at all.

 

They emptied out the mental hospitals when psychotropic drugs came alone, but took no account of those who were not helped or needed help taking their meds and/or couldn't take care of themselves, but such help never came.

 

Society saved the cost of asylums, and many were put to productive use/work and lead relatively healthy lives approaching some sort of normalcy.

 

But for a few, it's been a long fall between the grates, like those city storm sewer grates, and it's often impossible to pull one's self out. I suspect this is such a person (In fact, in my heart and with my knowledge of the disabled, whom I formerly represented in disability proceedings, I can state with 95% accuracy that that is the story here).

 

Possibly this was once some person 'on the edge' of productivity who lost a car, then lost a job, got evicted, then ended up on the street, and eventually lost all dignity. (why then do I photograph? To make a record, if nothing else; as some of the finest photographs have been taken of the less fortunate -- think photos taken of child laborers in the late 1800s -- early 1900s, in the United States. This was taken in that same sense -- to promote awareness, as well, I hope, as having made a technically pleasing photo.

 

Would I have liked to have seen who was under that stuff?

 

Of course, and to have portrayed that person too, with the covers coming off, or even a sole arm and hand coming out to adjust the mass of textiles, but that wasn't in the cards.

 

Sometimes I can capture and/or find magic, but not here, not this time; this is left to 'social comment' with pretty good lighting and pretty good color at night. A D300 capture (if I mismarked it in 'details' I'll try to fix it.)

 

I took other captures in which the poster played more prominently, but they were just not as good -- the poster dominated instead of the lonely soul beneath those textiles.

 

Could this have been a better photo?

 

Sure.

 

I am not committed to posting the absolute best photos each time; just interesting photos and maybe sometimes thought-provoking ones. This was the best of the bunch, and I did spend some time trying to get a good capture (but there was no available parking within walking distance for me with my disability, so I could not get out of my vehicle, and it was dangerous also -- and who knows what dangers lurk on busy nighttime Los Angeles streets when a guy loaded with cameras ventures out into a busy thoroughfare?

 

Now, there is no snow to tell us it's a cold winter night, but look at the mass of textiles/garments. That must tell you that it is not 90 degrees out, at least. I thought that would be more apparent that those things are not just for light shielding - it was near freezing.

 

Your comments are very well taken and well made; you should visit more often.

 

There's often much to discuss in my photos -- not only content, as here, but also composition, as in a photo I posted earlier.

 

Good discussion (and criticism in the best sense) is greatly encouraged in these pages; you have acquitted yourself well and are welcome any time.

 

John (Crosley)

 

On viewing the photos, it appears the top is off the statue of liberty, and that showed in the other photos (if I view it correctly).

 

That completely denigrated from the point of the juxtaposition I was seeking to create -- to work in the idea of 'liberty' and a 'free person' who actually is not 'free' at all.

 

Necessity required that I not show completely this particular photo of the Statue of Liberty since it appeared to have been defaced/beheaded. If there was a better story to my photo, that didn't also promote a movie or tv show, then I missed my opportunity, but that is life -- I can't be perfect.

 

Sometimes in life things work out perfectly; other times not.

 

This is one of those 'not' times when compromises had to be made, but still the photo seemed worthy enough. I am not unhappy with it at all; and it is a good documentary photo with good light.

 

(I admit the 'good' coloration detracts somewhat from the main point of the photo, but not every photo is best reduced to B&W. And this shows best, to my opinion, in color, or I would have desaturated it.

 

(With all its blacks, it needed the colors to separate the various parts in my view/black and white would have ended up more 'muddy' and hard to view, I think.)

 

Again, compromises were made.

 

(I sound like some corporate bigwig apologizing for putting poisonous substances in the canned tomato soup, don't I, because for some reason it would save 1/10th of a cent per case, (compromises were made). But in this only the photo's final quality suffered because of compromises.

 

No real persons were poisoned or otherwise harmed in the making of this photo.

 

(No evil penny-pinching corporate baron, I.)

 

(And no, not all corporate types are evil or penny-pinching, though one ought to read about the new corporate philosophy that's taken hold -- 'Gotcha' -- about how in every way many corporations scheme to trap the unwary into parting with money they don't think they're obliged to part with or that the corporations are not entitled to at all, while the corporation chieftains hope they won't get caught until after they've pocketed their huge options and performance bonuses, then departed, leaving a mess for the next guy to clean up, or maybe never even getting caught.

 

The face of business has changed over the course of my lifetime.

 

I had a conversation with a mortgage broker, who, in a rare moment of candor with me, told me how people would bargain for this or that advantage in their mortgage packages, but when it came down to the final closing papers, he just jammed all the bargained-for savings back in the customers' faces -- take it or leave it.

 

He was a former car salesman who detailed to me how in negotiations he would tell the customer anything they wanted to hear, then just simply write out the papers in a way the customer was confused and for numbers the customer never bargained for - packing each deal with hidden profits not agreed to by the customers but leaving the customers so confused (and lied to) they signe the deals anyway.

 

And maybe, Erik, that's the sub-prime mess in a nutshell.

 

We turnd car salesmen into mortgage brokers, and all the integrity that one associates with car salesmen got transferred into the mortgage brokerage business.

 

John (Crosley)

Hi again John. You are very "socially aware" and concerned for those who are sidelined in society and that really comes through in your portfolio of street pictures. You have an outstanding set of pictures and an eye for the artistic. My comment re the cold night was maybe a bit harsh - i live in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where the winter nights go down to -30C or less (and there are many like your sad character who sleep outside or crawl into holes to get near the warm pipes of the city heating system) and my perspective on what looks cold is probably unconciously bias! However, the lighting in the picture is still on the "warm" side. I look forward to seeing more of you photographs, you have real talent. Erik

Thanks for the kind followup comments.

 

And I also do not live in Los Angeles, or even in the USA most of the time.

 

I mostly live in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine and sometimes Kyiv, but do spend time in California where I spent much of my adult life.

 

There is no social safety net in Ukraine -- people there do freeze to death, though the alcohol in their blood may act as anti-freeze (not true really).

 

We had a warmer winter this year, and in December, I was in Los Angeles to meet with a photography mentor -- a Lucie award winner who had been curating my work for probably gallery exhibition -- at least for getting it into the highest level gallery doors the proper way -- to get it noticed.

 

He gave me superb guidance, and I am following his direction to a 'T'.

 

This was taken on a night after I met with my mentor, while I drove to late dinner, then to my hotel.

 

I am not necessarily so 'socially aware' as I might appear to be, I think, and I'm not a 'bleeding heart' liberal -- I'm a onetime (two life times ago), newsman and photojournalist, who learned that if you let your emotions drain out with each photo, there soon will be nothing left to self-renew (no Mother Theresa I, but then mostly what she did was help people die . . . . albeit with some dignity and grace).

 

I, on the other hand, try to record my impressions of 'life' so that people may appreciate it in all its vast variations, as I have come to do.

 

That's why I may post a photo like this that may not win an award for 'great' photography, but surely will provoke some discussion and make some people who are a little too comfortable think a little bit.

 

I mix such photos in with my more popular stuff, with the idea that I do not espouse a viewpoint, rather I just try to open people's eyes, write about things, and many people are smart enough in most cases to draw their own conclusions.

 

(Sometimes they just need a guide or a tour director.)

 

I enjoy just as much taking non-message 'street' photos in which the 'moment' and the composition are everything (see my last post).

 

Thanks again. (today from sunny, warm California; yesterday, Vienna; day before, Ukraine.)

 

John (Crosley)

The colours are very nice: the blue blanket, the contrast with the yellowish plastic bags. The three trolley cases are very funny!

 

I also like the blown out lights in the left background and the parallel patterns in the centre and right background.

 

Near where I lived there was a woman, Scandinavian they said, who lived in a similar way: a sort of "hut" beside a lamppost, covering all her belongings.

 

Best,

 

Luca

We have a word in English that is commonly misunderstood -- the word 'funny'. It can mean funny as in 'humorous' or funny as in 'unusual' and with this dire subject, unless you are injecting gallows humour, I presume you mean the three 'trolleys' (suitcases) are funny in an 'unusual' or 'interesting way, which would comport with the usual meaning of the word 'funny' and make your comment most understandable. You may not be so aware of the difference, being a foreign resident, but you show some good facility with English.

 

I like your comment about the various parallel lines -- they are vertical 'blinds' which are common in American houses and businesses - a form of sun shade or sun screen.

 

I presume that the twin rating names one with Luca and another without Luca mean that there are relatives rating from the same household, not dual accounts of yours (we need to be clear about that as the Administration would frown heavily on dual accounts rating anything, or anyone having active dual accounts, so you probably should explain that (readers will be curious in any event, just as I am, and it might mean an inquiry into one area that is sensitive and I mean membership-sensitive -- it's one area where memberships have been terminated.)

 

Just let me know, OK?

 

I presume there's a family relationship between Luca Allessandro Remotti and Alessandro Remotto.

 

Early on as a member when my former wife rated my photos, she had me enter down her ratings (so they traced to my private computer processor number; but her PN account because at her own residence (we were separated) she was blocked by her ISP and her living arrangements from rating directly.)

 

If anybody had looked, it would have looked suspicious, and then her daughter also wanted to rate photos (and became a member and sometimes rated my photos too, the same way, when she visited me, so it looked like I had dual or triple accounts when there was no such thing.)

 

Her daughter's account still is extant, though not active.

 

The daughter is 15 now, once was thought to be Photo.net's youngest active member, took VERY able photos at 11 or 12, and now is pointed maybe at MIT or Columbia (Russian-born, she is fluent in two languages, and is stunningly beautiful beside being very, very bright -- almost too bright -- so much that life can be too easy for her, and adults take her into their confidence because she understands so much so easily).

 

Anyway, it should be clarified.

 

Thanks for contributing. This is a hard subject to rate and/or say much about -- it was posted in part for its aesthetics, but its aesthetics run counter to its subject -- a conundrum that could not be clarified by converting to black and white because of the importance of color to the capture (an unusual circumstance).

 

Again, thanks for contributing, as always.

 

John (Crosley)

It's interesting to note that both your subject and the poster depicting the Statue of Liberty are "headless". Well, actually it is technically correct on the statue but not on the person under the blanket but you know what I mean.

 

A body without a head is in a state of chaos and the poster could well symbolize the US. For example, it doesn't take a genius to see how detrimental our health care system is in this country. The other day I saw a program in 60 Minutes that featured an organization that provides free medical care around the world. It showed the volunteers setting up their improvised clinics in a large building and people lining up since the night before with children to get a chance to see these doctors and nurses. Now, this was not in a remote area of the world where people are displaced by war or natural disaster, it was right in the middle of America. They interviewed people who were on the verge of desperation and the stories were heartbreaking. For a nation that boasts so much wealth and power this is disgraceful.

 

The covered subject remains anonymous and one reason why people like to be unknown to others is shame. Maybe this individual lost all his or her dignity and prefer to remain this way - hidden from everybody (metaphorically speaking). The presence of the sign for Washington Mutual Bank in the background adds a touch of irony to this composition.

there are some visual aspects of this photo that I'd like to point out:- the parallel between the clothes of the Statue of Liberty and the "shroud" that covers the woman.

- the "yellow line" that leads the eye (with an important break/jump) from the right side to the left side;

- the luggage "barrier" that divides the two conceptual sides of your composition.

 

These three aspects contribute to the visual impact of this photography in a very significant way. I'd like to go on underlining the presence of two frames, one for each woman, but it's better if I stop here my humble analysis and thank you for another good photography. Ciao e grazie, Giuseppe

 

(BTW the phrase "flesh and stones" surfaced suddenly in my mind as I saw your "stillness" picture: I remember I was thinking about poverty and how this people is "flesh and bones" and then I made the link with the "Soviet Marble/Iron Man")

About your comment, two words: Right On!!!!

 

Excellent.

 

Couldn't be better.

 

I have nothing further to say.

 

John (Crosley)

You make three good points about the composition - thank you, I missed them mostly, especially the 'yellow line'.

 

Thanks.

 

Also, thanks for confirming that you coined the term 'flesh and stone' and how.

 

I had hoped you coined it.

 

Good show.

 

John (Crosley)

Thank you John for clarifying the term "funny". Actually I did not mean humorous, but rather striking. I've seen many hobos, but none with three trolleys (I realise now that there are four!)

 

No relationship at all between Alessandro Remotti and Luca Alessandro Remotti. We probably just share same family roots and the same origin - Piedmont - but nothing else. He lives in Turin and I live in Roma.

 

We just come across each other here on Photo Net from time to time.

 

My father used to say that our ancestors fled from Spain in the 16th Century. According to him the name meant "those who come from far away" - De Remotiis, should you know latin.

 

Take care

 

Luca.

Thanks for clarifying (I'm sure members will want to know there is no real relationship despite such close names).

 

And the word 'funny' can easily mean 'striking' as that is a more specific word for 'interesting' which is one variant of the word 'funny'.

 

John (Crosley)

This photo has a new irony.

 

This past week, the bank with the sign in the background -- Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) went insolvent and had to be rescued by being 'bought' for a pittance by J.P. Morgan/Chase, pursuant to negotiations spearheaded by the U.S. Federal Reserve. As news of its inability to pay its debts, etc., and lack of liquidity became known, depositors began a run on the bank, somewhat like Indy Mac (spelling?) which failed nearby earlier this year, but WaMu depositors did not lose money as the depositors in the other bankk did for deposits OVER $100,000 FDIC limit.

 

How the mighty fall.

 

Signs of the times.

 

First this photo is about a homeless (woman?) and how she might have lost a job or a car, and now it's also about a bank that is no more.

 

And this weekend, we're waiting for Congress to try to 'bail out' the world's banking system from a severe liquidity crisis brought about by no-money-down loans, championed in part by WaMu, background. This woman(?) may just have been ahead of her time.

 

She may have to share her bus bench sleeping quarters in the near future.

 

John (Crosley)