[Leica] photographing the homeless

[shino at panix.com (Rei Shinozuka)]

regarding the controversy; i take the plug commandments to be tongue
in cheek; after all, who would have the temerity to compare his rules to
the foundation of mosaic law with a straight face?

in addition it also proscribes photographing children.

as to the image:  the combined image and backstory are compelling; i'd 
like to see more.

-rei


On Jan19 11:02, Kyle Cassidy wrote:
> It's a strict violation of the 10 Commandments of Plug Photography to
> photograph the homeless, because it's such a cheap shot at making a
> shortcut to meaning. It allows us to appear socially conscious while
> keeping 50 milimieters of distance between a wrecked human life and our
> own. Maybe I should change that rule to "Don't photograph the homeless
> with anything wide than a 15mm". If you're going to do it, you should
> have your face up in it.
>  
> Omar's a real conundrum. He's live in my neighborhood for years, in the
> summer sleeping on the steps of the coffee house and in the winter
> sometimes on the porches or garages of neighbors. He's friendly and even
> charming during the day but he's a heavy drinker and a mean drunk and
> one by one, people's patience wears out and businesses start adopting a
> "no omar" policy. He's banned from the coffee shop and most of the
> places he used to hang out, most of the bars won't let him in, but
> there's still something fascinating about him. Like many successful
> panhandlers he's endearing in short doses. I've been photographing him
> in passing for maybe five years.
>  
> I saw him last week and said "Omar, you look like a freaking GQ model."
> "I don't have much," he said. "You know, I don't have anything, but it's
> important to look nice."
>  
> http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/cassidy/pix/paw/2007/3/1.jpg
>  

-- 
Rei Shinozuka shino@panix.com
Ridgewood, New Jersey