10MPlayer Loc: California

A year or two ago I noticed two young homeless guys. It was morning and both guys looked like they'd had a hard night. They caught my eye when I noticed the one guy feeding the squirrels. He seemed like he was really into it. I saw me taking photos but didn't seem to mind.

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Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

A fascinating image that fully encompasses what Street Photography is all about. There is barely a hint, yet it clearly is there, that the man is homeless; but his interaction with the squirrel and the effect the relationship has on him stands out very strongly. The entire rest of the scene just continues the same level of emotion.

And that is the base emotion communicated to a viewer! It allows the viewer to share the relationship and by doing so to experience, at least for a moment, the lack of complexity and consequent lack of anxiety that this man requires in order to function. Instead of fantasizing about what he is thinking or what he is doing to create a "story" from our own minds that we attribute to the photograph, we become, ourselves, a part of what the photograph shows (which is not a story, but just what is there).

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Very nice street image, 10MPlayer. Great expression and excellent rendering.

Voss

A good photo! The B&W work is good, and you caught him at a very expressive moment.

Voss

Apaflo, this is a very good explanation to go with an appropriate photo to illustrate what you've been trying to say in other posts. It's so much clearer when the photo and the explanation reinforce each other.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

That is a really nice image to use as an example for so many things about Street Photography! And perhaps most of all about ways to respect the people we exploit.

I live fairly tightly bundled into a non-Western culture that treats everything, not just young healthy or wealthy humans, as having a spirit (a soul if you like) that must be respected if conflict is to be avoided to find a harmony that allows our own lives to proceed. The people here don't think of photographs so much in terms literally as making use of these spirits as they do just seeing good spirits in a good photograph.

But decades ago my initial introduction to photographing people included a culture that felt a photograph took a small part of the soul of its subject. I came to believe that is true, and that basing all photography on that concept is the best way to resolve almost any ethical question that will be encountered.

rlaugh Loc: Michigan & Florida

As already pointed out, a story can be imagined from this shot...good job!

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Okay...

What significance does that have, when the story comes from your imagination rather than from the photograph?

A photograph is a means of communication, much like a paragraph of text. The intent is to convey information which very likely creates emotion .in the mind of the viewer/reader. Typically the less ambiguous the communications is the more likely it is that a higher percentage of viewers will get essentially the same mental image. That is, with either a paragraph of text symbols or a photograph of visual symbols, the purpose of good structure and good composition. It is of course never perfect, but generally the effectiveness is measured by the lack of ambiguity.

There is no story conveyed by the image. None. We see what was there at the instant the shutter was tripped. We don't see what happened before or after. A story is not what is there; by definition a story is what happened.

To imagine a story generated in your mind is fine, but it cannot be attributed to the photograph without at the same time suggesting the photograph lacks organization and composition!

rlaugh Loc: Michigan & Florida

The significance is, that is exactly what I want a street photography shot to do for me! With landscape, portrait or other types, I want everything to be there, but with street photography I want to finish or imagine the rest of the story..that's why I like it! Does that mean I am right..no, but it isn't wrong either if that is what I want out of it!
The image triggers my mind to make the story...is it a true story, probably not, but it's my story, triggered by your shot!
To me a street shot that has too much organization, looks staged, I want street photography to be random.
With that said, this is what works for me, not saying it is true for everyone!

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

I do like this. The fellow's belongings are on the bench so we can assume he is homeless; but the moment is tender and full of empathy. A very respectful photo.
Erich

10MPlayer Loc: California

Thanks to all of you who took the time to comment. Your comments are very thoughtful and from generally positive response it makes me want to get out and take more street photos. Like I said in another thread that lead to posting this picture, I often feel like the subject's privacy is being invaded. I don't mean that in a legal sense because I know that anything in a public place or on a public street is fair game but when I see the frequent shots of drunks and derelicts slumped in a doorway I feel like they are being exploited in the name of "art". If I do pursue more of this I will be selective and get some sort of positive affirmation that it's okay with the subject. At the least a sign that they know I'm taking their picture. If don't say 'get the hell out of my face' or whatever then I'll assume it's okay. If they seem bothered by it I'll erase the shot and move on.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

I think you have the basic concept nailed down. The exact details have to be worked out (and might well be different when you start than what you'll deal with 20 years later).

For example, I don't need anyone to know that I'm taking their picture, as such. Sometimes that helps with making the picture what I want, but usually it would simply ruin it because I almost never want a picture of a person posing for a photograph! I want them engaged in something significant to them or to life, and whatever it is that is where I want their attention directed. Much of the time if a person knows they are being photographed it detracts from the very concentration on something else that I'm targeting; hence every effort is made to get the shot before they notice.

But "shots of drunks and derelicts slumped in a doorway" are all excessively exploitive for my tastes, no matter if they know what I'm doing or not. They are "cheap shots", and trivial. Taking advantage of someone's disadvantage just is not what I do, first because that action tells them they have no value and the images made tell everyone else the same thing, which is a false statement. But it is also important that there is no real beauty, no real work, nothing difficult or significant in "cheap shots". It's like shooting sunsets, fireworks, and Christmas tree lights, and is best left to others as they learn.

Here is an excellent article by Eric Kim that covers the ethics and other issues involved. Well worth the read.

Eric Kim's insights from the history of Street Photography

A quote, starting with a quote from Joel Meyerowitz, from that link is worth noting:

10MPlayer Loc: California

I agree with what you said about cheap shots. The typical derelict shot is exploitation of someone else's misery. There has to be a reason to take the shot beside the shock factor of "oh, look how far this poor guy has fallen". It's either got to be something touching or ironic or uplifting or it's taking advantage. that's how I see it.