AuDN4T

I’ve been debating street photography for quite some time now. I enjoy it – you see candid moments between people and environments. You see a glimpse into a moment of time and it’s gone in a second, a minute or an hour. It both takes me out of my comfort zone but also lets me regulate/ground me in very busy city environments.

On another hand, you have people who feel uncomfortable about it. They may argue that it may be an invasion of privacy. Label it as creepy. The idea that creepers are out there taking photos of kids or women.

When it’s a well composed photo – it’s not creepy. It can tell a story, it can be funny, it can bring up emotion, it can stir up thoughts and questions. It doesn’t always have to stir thoughts to all audience. It can be a personal thought that gets stirred for the photographer. Not all art is always understood; everyone has various perspectives and interpretations.

I think about this photo in this post – I got lucky with framing Honest Ed’s “Buy Something” and capturing these two individuals walking down the street with a plant… I don’t think Honest Ed did sell plants though lol. But it could have brought the viewer to question consumerism and an obvious paradox of the movie “They Live”. I’m glad I got this photo in time. It’s that sliver of a moment that just worked and got recorded. And now Honest Ed’s is gone and we have these memories of this place – whether we shopped there or passed by it on the sidewalk. It was a staple of this ever changing city we call Toronto.

I think back to a photographer who took a photo of a homeless person sleeping outside of a Toronto church. One might question this ethically. Is it okay to photograph people who are struggling? But we can flip it to, is it okay to exclude them from our every day lives, pretend like they’re not there? Part of this city? We’ve had mayors who would clear the streets of homeless people for world events held at the city – what kind of message does this provide? That there is no poverty? That they are an eye sore in this city? This is the reality of this world. We have poor and rich people. We have healthy and ill people. We have young and old. We have people from all over the world. Do I hesitate about taking photos of some people? Yes, I am afraid of their reactions. They might not know my intent. I simply want to document that moment. There’s also the thought that people think I’m a tourist – but that was a thought when I initially started getting into photography – that stereotype that everyone with a camera is a tourist. The individual who took the photo of the homeless person ended up getting a thank you message from a family relative of the homeless person telling them their story. They were thankful to have some sort of last memory. This also stirs up conversations around mental health and homelessness. How are we working on these topics? What are we doing to correct these topics? What are we doing to educate ourselves on these topics and people who are impacted by mental health and homelessness?

I think about Google Maps and seeing my Great Aunt at her home without her face blurred. It’s been 5 years since she’s passed. But seeing her face was a nice surprise. It was surprising but it was a pleasant surprise. Seeing her there at her home. Showing family members this also resulted in a positive reaction. I’m glad that Google didn’t blur her face.

I think if things are done in a respectful manner, it’s ethically acceptable. I fear about showing someone in an unflattering moment, and I try my best to show them in a positive light. Though in some personal occasions candid moments are kind of funny. I think if these images are posted and the person requests to have the image taken down, this could be a fair request.

One could also argue that the person in the photo is not them. It could be their doppelganger. There are many people out there that look like others. People also change so much over the years and who knows, it could or could not be that person. I look different in the workplace in comparison to my personal life.

Trying to get a person’s permission ahead of time will defeat the purpose of the photo because now they’re aware of being photographed and will lose that candidness of the moment.

You can look at the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Vivian Maier and see how epic these photographers were for their time creating very candid compositions. Without them, you wouldn’t have these pieces of art. And I know some might argue if photography is art but I do think it can be.

Part of being open about my photography, I worry about being seen as a liability to an employer with the photos I take. Not that they are depicting injury to people. But rather just topics that question our current world. Politics thoughts. Thoughts criticizing our politicians. And rightfully so. We do not have affordable housing. We have people who are struggling mentally and accessing affordable housing and safe injection sites. We have genocides occurring in this world. Do we feel comfortable with all of this?

Simply taking a photograph of an empty city doesn’t really tell the true story of a city. If we’re looking for an empty space, you’re looking for a ghost town. People make that city and street photography is one way to depict that city. How people interact with that city. It’s why I avoid trying to take photos of empty space when travelling. People make that space. Without people, that space wouldn’t be what it is today.