minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thank you for these comments. I agree, dignity is important. And it is hard for me to photograph successfully without emotional connection, whether to people, places, things or events.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I had some reluctance to broach this subject and would not have done so anywhere else. This is a place where such things can be discussed more than superficially if we choose, even with disagreements, but without devolving into chaos or bitterness. Thank you all.

jgordon Loc: Boulder CO

This is an interesting discussion. I agree that in some ways it tends to be more about those of us who participate in the discussion than about the young man who appears in the photo with his cat.

A single still photography image of this sort can be powerful – but its power is necessarily limited. This image tells us that the young man is probably a street person. The image shows him to have an open, alive and interesting face. The image suggests that he has the capacity for love because of his relationship with the cat.

The image does not tell us how he wound up on the streets. It cannot tell us whether he has mental health issues or was abused as a child. It doesn’t tell us if he wound up on the streets after losing a job or after suffering physical or mental illness. It also doesn’t tell us whether those viewing the image are “bleeding hearts.” Sure, we can read all kinds of stuff into the image based upon our own experiences and viewpoints – but to expect this one image to carry the weight of such observations is unreasonable.

What a single image of this sort can do is to show us that this young man is a human being. Perhaps he is flawed but he is none-the-less a real person. That's all the image can show, but it is a lot.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

Others have talked about their feelings. My comments have to do with the image itself.

It is an engaging portrait. Without the accompanying information I would have not known but would have guessed that the young man was experiencing some kind of distress.

I find colour distracting in this instance. What do you think about B/W and darkening surroundings and present with a slight, very slight, halo of light surrounding his head area? The kitty might be darkened along with the surroundings to the point where it isn't really noticeable at first but upon cursory examination it becomes more and more important. One might then infer a symbiotic relationship between the two as though at least they had each other.

With that said, my dear, this is one very lovely photograph.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

JGordon, you sneaked back in here with more of your insightful, well thought out comments, and I appreciate your adding this. The relationship between the two subjects sent a special kind of message to me. Regardless of why he elected to have a cat companion, it was clear the two were closely connected.The rest is simply conjecture. And that is what much of art is about, seeing and figuring out what it means to us. I'm not claiming this photo is art (or start that age old argument about what art is), but art is what I strive for.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I always appreciate your feedback Jim. I will try a monochrome version, I see what you're aiming at and it makes sense. I actually did almost nothing to this image, it confounded me so.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Just to start with, regardless of that particular photograph, we do have to be very careful to respect the people and other subjects we photograph. The very act of arrogance in photographing anything leans towards disrespect, and unless we are overtly pushing back in the other direction we lose credibility.

A similar concept is one I learned as a teenager while photographing Tohono O'Odham people at the San Xavier del Bac mission near Tucson, AZ in the early 1960's. I was told they believe a photograph takes a part of the spirit of an object. That was a heavy concept at the time, but it did make decisions about who or what to photograph very easy. But over 50 years later, all that I photograph are the spirits of objects, rather than the objects...

In this particular case, as is clear from the discussion here, the photograph (at least in the context that exists here) has turned the subject into exactly what Sontag described, an object that is symbolically possessed, in a less than totally respectful way, and hence has been subject to "subliminal murder".

That is acceptable only because the topic here is what makes that happen, and how to manage it. Which of course should strictly be how to avoid the lack of respect being extended to the subject of the photograph.

Unless a photographer is comfortable with it, the solution is don't do it. I've always thought the litmus test was pretty simple: I want a photograph that not only would the subject be happy to give to their father or mother, but that I personally would be proud to present.

Photographs that emphasize circumstances that degrade the subject on a permanent basis just might not be appropriate. The same circumstances, when made to appear joyous or temporary, might be perfect.

Possessing the symbol is one thing, kicking it into the corner is another! This thread has had way too much discussion about that corner, and not enough about how to keep the symbol away from there.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Those are thought-provoking comments. Thank you for joining in the discussion. I do hope this young man would indeed like the image. I have, after other trips, taken prints to people I've figured out how to find - some have regular locations. He was unintimidated, seemed to like being asked, and proud of his companion. I don't think he had nearly the reservations that I had, but my reservations came not from his perception of his situation but from mine. And I had those reservations after the fact. (In the moment, he was simply an interesting human being I was engaged with, and I just wanted to do a good job with the image). We all perceive through our own perspective, it is the only one we have.