[AGL] a homeless man does not a street photograph make

Sat Apr 22 11:00:54 EDT 2017

Meant to say “Few claim that photography…”


> On Apr 22, 2017, at 9:59 AM, telebob <telebob at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I suppose that could be one interpretation.  It might also be a comment on who one might end up with a date from the advertised agency.  I used to stop and give him money. He was on that corner for months.
> 
> Fe that photography was a benign or ‘friendly’ business.  The nativists are correct.  Each photo does snatch a little bit of your soul and fix it in time.  Whether this is bad or not is yet to be determined.  But boy, do Barthes and Sontag go on and on about photography.
> 
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>> On Apr 22, 2017, at 9:34 AM, Frances Morey via Austin-ghetto-list <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net <mailto:austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>> wrote:
>> 
>> It's shutter braggadocio. The photographer appears to be crowing about the fate that awaits those not lucky enough to have married the perfect woman. I see German schadenfreude at work, gleeful at another's misery.  
>> Best,
>> Frances 
>> 
>> 
>> On Saturday, April 22, 2017 12:58 AM, Donna Bobb <dianenwade at gmail.com <mailto:dianenwade at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Just perused your first page and I do like your work!  Especially the lady with the scar on her chin, and the Prince wall art!!  I see what you mean about street photography. Live still life...I know that's an oxymoron. 
>> My feelings about homelessness has more to do with 'choices' some people make, having worked on the State and Federal level in areas.  Might be why I am so critical on that particular issue.  Pulled my brother off the streets after seven years of being alone and on meth.  IQ off the charts, on medication now, but it was a choice he made. Lost his wife and son over it. 
>> When I look at the two photos and the ages and cell phones, that's what runs through my mind..Is it a choice?? Now the deaf man is another story. He reminds me of a veteran. Maybe if you changed it to black and white. 
>> In my next life I am coming back as President and letting everyone back in and no one left behind or on the streets! 
>> On Apr 22, 2017 1:36 AM, "telebob" <telebob at gmail.com <mailto:telebob at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> Donnabob-
>> 
>> I appreciate your letter.  I am in great sympathy with your feelings.
>> 
>> I wish a photo or even a collection could do more.  But that’s what films are for, yes?  Books, journalism.  I’m not that much of a writer, but I like to ‘see’ things and pass on what I can.
>> 
>> Here’s my Flickr site… I have about 2500+ photos up. 
>> 
>>  https://www.flickr.com/ photos/49849426 at N00/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/49849426@N00/>
>> 
>> Browse til you’re bored.  I have been snapping away most of my life, but I am a very careless curator of my ‘work.’  I take pics mainly so I know where I’ve been. Someday, in my next life, I’ll do better, I promise.
>> 
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> 
>> Le Telebob  or as Mikey calls me…. Telejerk    heh heh
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Apr 22, 2017, at 12:22 AM, Donna Bobb <dianenwade at gmail.com <mailto:dianenwade at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Oh, I'm no expert but I love old photos.
>>> Well, I was born in Blythe California in the
>>> 1960. We moved all over.  First time I was aware of homeless was age 4 when I came upon a dead alcoholic behind a grocery store in Blythe. 
>>> Father was an alcoholic so my mother always worked. Our time  in Vegas in the early 60's I had the privilege of sitting in he cafe where my mother worked and served John Wayne and Clark Gable breakfast every morning. I was also priveleged to see the inside of a biker bar where my father spent most of his time and decisively placed me on the back of a motor cycle and sat me next to female patrons while he played shuffle board! That's until my mother found out. They worked the Highview Hereford Ranch in Texas,  and Hi Neighbor Ranch in Colorado. The most memorable time was in Arizona. We lived in a Sicilian neighborhood and I sold fruit to Joe Bonannos who lived two house down. My father worked for a company of his. Seen a lot of 'war' with the old mafia Don's at that time. One witness had his yard blown up down the street and he never did testify on a federal case . He left the state! Lol. 
>>> I'm was in Los Angeles during the Watts riots in 1965. Bloody wars! We rushed an eight year old boy to the hospital because they had cut off his ear. 
>>> America has certainly been through the peeks and troughs of feast or famine and it's been my experience that whenever we move into a new era and change comes about, people will be displaced, like your photos, having been there myself a couple of times! 
>>> I was thrown out at 15. 
>>> I have seen it.  You spoke about homelessness.  What's their story?  
>>> With Dorothea, posed or not, it's the expressions that tell me that they are there and aware you are there but they could care less about any of it. 
>>> For me, the facial expression and vacant stares speaks .  Dirty clothes, no running water due to travel, etc. I think I am explaining it right. 
>>> I did see the irony in these photos but I would like to see the stories they have to tell in today's time. What happened ....Because I care about those who are being kicked to the curb like these that are so young! 
>>> Write the story! That's what I am really saying when I say heart and soul. Forget about what's sitting behind them or the juxtaposition of something, I want to know their stories. 
>>> With all the fake political news cornering the market I would like to see the old school journalists out there doing the real work. 
>>> And if you go down the street where the Sheriton Gunter Hotel resides in San Antonio at night and look in the brreezways of the shops as you make your way to the River walk you all find old men asleep there at night to get out of the cold.  Some passed out.  Street photography like some of these people you mention.  Homelessness in it's purest form.
>>> On Apr 22, 2017 12:11 AM, "telebob" <telebob at gmail.com <mailto:telebob at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> Dear Donnabob-
>>> 
>>> Dorothea Lange was in no way a ‘street photographer’.  She was a journalist with a job to do.  Much of her work, just as with many of the FSA photographers was posed or at least cajoled out of the subjects.
>>> “Working” with her subject in no way diminishes from the power of the images.  Studying the contact sheets of the photographer will tell you a ton about how the shots are or were obtained.  There are thousands of ways of approaching the ‘shot.'
>>> 
>>> Her work and any comparison to ‘street photography’ is only similar in that they are both done with cameras. 
>>> 
>>> The homeless guy with the sign saying “Single” is supposed to be ironic.  Sorry if you don’t see the sad humor of it.  You ‘see’ it.  You shoot it.  That’s it.  Move on.  Cartier-Bresson ‘stalked’ his shots sometimes for hours to get what he termed ‘the decisive moment.’  (A lot of pretentious horseshit as far as I can see. Though I do admire the “Behind the Gare St. Lazare” photo, one of many that made him famous.)
>>> 
>>> And ‘no heart’ in the bus station photo of the sleeping guy with the old “Puts more fun in the going?”…. well….  not sure how much you ever had to travel by bus in the old days. I used to ride the dog or Trailways now and then, and my heart went out to the guy.
>>> 
>>> I sympathize with your chemo issues.  I went through my cycle of that stuff a couple of months ago.  They grabbed a kidney out of me too.  My taste buds are starting to come back and the tinnitus caused by the chemo has subsided.  Nasty stuff, platinum based. Ooog.  Now we’re all better.  I hope so for you too.
>>> 
>>> telebob
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Apr 21, 2017, at 9:27 PM, Donna Bobb <dianenwade at gmail.com <mailto:dianenwade at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> If I may interject, lol, you are all wrong. Dorothea Lange captured the very essence ; heart and soul of hardship during the great depression.  
>>>> You know, I can see where Vera obtained her larger than Life stubbornness and why she spoke so often of you guys. I use to think it was the Italian blood but I can see it's definitely a Texas thing! Lolol.
>>>> And as a casual observer, the deaf guy photo looks like an advertisement for a date and the two photos you displayed looked like a bus stop except the litter that accumulated in the area. And what's up with the cell phones with two subjects who are homeless? No offense intended. Just no heart in these photos you guys have been bantering over. 
>>>> And I would have gotten back to you sooner on reading you paper but my chemo is finally done so I can concentrate.  Jawbone.
>>>> On Apr 21, 2017 9:02 AM, "Michael Eisenstadt" <eisenstadt0 at gmail.com <mailto:eisenstadt0 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>> look at the pic again. look at the deaf-mute's face, he is
>>>> situationally aware that he is being photographed. which
>>>> makes the pic NOT street photography.
>>>> 
>>>> calling the viewers attention to the wit of the photographer
>>>> by juxtaposing otherwise unrelated things may delight
>>>> some, while turning off others.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> <f430618162ce9b9e406086e4aa786 d42.jpg><1023-great- depression-lange-migrant- mother-collage.jpg><07ff7d3a3f 83ca8ddeedf86ad52095f1.jpg>< Mezzanine_258.jpg>
>>> 
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