 mromeroPremium
join:2000-12-07
Los Angeles
1 edit | reply to 42246015
Re: [Help] taking photos of homeless people I think Wayne once said that he tries to talk to them and get to know them on a personal level. He would then offer them a few bucks and a bite to eat.He would then ask them if they would allow him to take a picture. |
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noahnottPremium
join:2006-11-10
Wenatchee, WA | reply to 42246015
being curious, I search for "suffering" on flickr and found this:
http://flickr.com/photos/bitrot/1402966938/...i love it. You could 'copy' it if you get desperate. |
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 GizyHave you thanked a soldier today?Premium
join:2002-08-26
PNW
kudos:1 | reply to mromero
That's exactly what he does. He treats them with respect. And if you're going to photograph suffering, you should do it with the UTMOST respect for the people involved. That may be a better reason for a long lens than any kind of perceived safety issue. |
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 waynegilbertBlessedPremium
join:2004-09-26
Brooklyn, NY
kudos:1 | reply to 42246015
Thanks mromero  & Gizy that is basically what I do. I have had a few tell me please don't take my photo and I show my respect and keep walking. Once I had a woman tell me to go fuck myself and I just apologized, offered a buck or two and left no harm done. I love helping people and most times the camera is tucked away....
This type photography is not for everyone and shouldn't be done for shits and giggles either. Sometimes when speaking with them it can bring you to tears. Not everyone of them is what you think or heard....
I have learned through my own suffering to spread the love one person at a time 
Thanks and Good Luck!
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»www.flickr.com/photos/waynegphfx/ |
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jpg366
join:2004-04-09
Humble, TX | reply to 42246015
Look up "suffer" in an old dictionary. To "put up with" something or someone can be involuntary (eg., homeless) or voluntary. How about someone doing a hard job for low pay? How about the poor clerk who has to listen closely to lawyers drone on endlessly? How about the mother who cares for a crying baby? Suffering is not just about pain. |
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 SND2005Premium
join:2001-09-15
Im Over Here
 ·CWLab
| reply to 42246015
While not every person decides to be homeless, some actually have resigned themselves to it and don't want to change.
Because one is homeless does not necessarily mean you are automatically suffering. If one of us were to become homeless today, I think "we" would consider it suffering.
Semantics aside, there are other versions & variations of suffering.
For example, the "suffering" associated with urban development.
»i.dslr.net/pics_cache/104129_102···efa9.jpg |
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 javaManThe Dude abides.Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-15
San Luis Obispo, CA | reply to jpg366
said by jpg366:Look up "suffer" in an old dictionary. To "put up with" something or someone can be involuntary (eg., homeless) or voluntary. How about someone doing a hard job for low pay? How about the poor clerk who has to listen closely to lawyers drone on endlessly? How about the mother who cares for a crying baby? Suffering is not just about pain. I would echo this sentiment. You should think first as a journalist and then as a photographer. What is suffering? What do you want your photos to convey? In order to do that effectively, you should fully consider the meanings of suffering first and then attempt to explain it to others in your photographs.
Let me offer an alternative view of suffering that perhaps might be useful to you. To me, suffering implies endurance. It suggests something has been forced upon you to make the ordinary extraordinary. And more to the point, it suggests the ability to deal with it with courage and dignity. Many endure hardship but not all are able suffer it. It is very easy to relate the pain of suffering: the flood victim crying over the loss of their home or the mother wailing in the street over the body of her dead child. But those are transitory events. It is more difficult but far more revealing about the quality of suffering to convey the courage it takes to overcome those events and live each day with dignity. One of most powerful photos I've seen is of a group of Palestinian children walking past an Israeli checkpoint on their way to school.
I hope this is helpful.
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Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness. . . Isa. 5:20 |
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 42246015I was there on 9-11Premium
join:2007-04-22
lol
1 edit | reply to 42246015
Well after reading the assignment again I guess it doesn't have to be of people, just it has to at least show that there was human presence.
I have 1 day to do this and running out of ideas/locations.
I think I'm going to do a collage of road kill or something, that will show the human effect on nature/the environment and suffering, I think. I might also throw some photos of trash and stuff laying alongside the road. It certainly won't get me the noble peace prize as the homeless people/war survivor photographs would have, but damned if it won't at least get me a B+ and pass the course.
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I was there on 9/11. |
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 CatSnakRIP Splashy - We miss youPremium
join:2001-05-06
Lakeside, CA | There are always funerals where you can get shots of suffering. I like the ecological angle if you can find something in your area that relates to that. There are many forms of suffering but since the assignment is supposed to be based on emotion I would think you would have to include some form of living creature that is suffering. Tough assignment. Good luck!
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Founding member, 2002-2003, 2005-2006 Director of Communications, 2004-2005 Secretary for the Crunchenstein Project |
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42246015I was there on 9-11Premium
join:2007-04-22
lol | said by CatSnak:There are always funerals where you can get shots of suffering. I like the ecological angle if you can find something in your area that relates to that. There are many forms of suffering but since the assignment is supposed to be based on emotion I would think you would have to include some form of living creature that is suffering. Tough assignment. Good luck! Yeah I think I'm definitely going to go with the ecological suffering route.
The photos have to be in Friday morning. Once I take them I have to develop them in the dark room and print them, that will take a day. So basically I have the rest of tonight and maybe tomorrow morning to take photos. Tomorrow night will develop them. I'm going to have to rush and do stuff as fast as I can. To make it worse, the day ends so much sooner now, it's almost already dark out now, will be tough to get any usable photos.
I think I'm going to try to do:
• Roadkill (already saw a possum and a raccoon I can use)
• Litter and cans and stuff on the ground
• Maybe some kind of industrial plant sending smoke into the sky
• Car muffler?
• Maybe a landfill or something too with tons of garbage
I think it will convey the message of what we are doing to the environment. I know for sure though the professor is going to mark me a few points off for the photos not relating to each other close enough though. |
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 carpRejected
join:2002-10-30 | reply to 42246015
Some suggestions:
Dog Warden/Kennel
Hospice
Burn Unit
Mental Ward
Orphanage
Outreach groups for families of the terminally ill.
AA Meetings
Detox Unit
Funeral |
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| reply to 42246015
Suffering is everywhere. No need to put yourself in harms way. I don't know where you live, but if you have a lot of traffic, gridlock is true suffering to me.
If you have any weather extremes, people working/walking outside are probably suffering. |
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 WaxPhotoI AM SAMPremium
join:2004-04-08
Roanoke, IN | reply to 42246015
Not Hospitals! HIPPAct / privacy rules are very strict, and for good reason. Face shots for emotion are waaay too personal/intrusive.
Suggestions:
Apes at the zoo
People getting off work - retail places. Think wal-mart
Bus Stops
If you want to shoot homeless people, get to know them. A smile and a head nod/panomime for approval does wanders. You can get candids after you walk away
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My Photography Blog | My Flickr Gallery - Socos | BBR Flickr Group |
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 jvmorrisI Am The Man Who Was Not There.Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-03
Reston, VA | reply to waynegilbert
Re: [Help] taking photos of homeless people said by waynegilbert:Thanks mromero & Gizy that is basically what I do. I have had a few tell me please don't take my photo and I show my respect and keep walking. Once I had a woman tell me to go fuck myself and I just apologized, offered a buck or two and left no harm done. I love helping people and most times the camera is tucked away.... This type photography is not for everyone and shouldn't be done for shits and giggles either. Sometimes when speaking with them it can bring you to tears. Not everyone of them is what you think or heard.... Wayne, I suspect you have a highly unusual talent for taking these kinds of photos without alienating or offending people; I don't think I do. For the most part, I am impressed by your photos in this genre, but I honestly don't think I could effectively take them, certainly not without offending the subjects -- not something I would care to be responsible for. Some of us (me for example) can be a bit nonplussed in awkward (for us) situations. If I were out there trying to do this for a class assignment, I'm not at all sure that I could reasonably project that I was concerned about these people while snapping away. But, ... that's my problem, I suppose.
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris |
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