In a message dated 7/21/01 8:05:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Subj: Re: More Tripod Follies?
Date: 7/21/01 8:05:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Shel Belinkoff)
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> For those of us who ~have~ worked with the above gear, we know we are but
> ripples on a pond. Stay there long enough and the "people" walk around you
> and sometimes over you, as if you're a rock in a stream. One photographer
set
> up on a tripod in the middle of a square with a 70-200 f/2.8 zoom soon
simply
> disappears into the "stream" of life.
Shooting the sort of stuff I shoot in that manner means you
don't come home with anything. There's no way you can stand
on the street with a big zoom lens on a tripod and come back
with intimate, revealing photos.
> *Ever been to a "Serious" press conference?
No one here was talking about press conferences. That's a
special case. It's set up, staged, and coordinated. Life on
the street has an entirely different ebb and flow - press
conferences are, at best, like a tide pool to the ocean,
teaming with life and activity but a mere microcosm of the
environment.
> Sounds like a white guy out of his depths and unsure of his reception. When
> you go into an area, "BE" there, as if you belong.
And you sound like a black guy with a chip on his shoulder.
This isn't about color or race, it's about relating to
people. Anyone who has shot the streets with me know exactly
how I work, and how close I get to the people I'm
photographing. I know their names, shared food or drink with
them, and sometimes even been to their homes. I often know
their stories, and where their from. You don't get that by
being a cracker who's unsure of himself. And you don't get
that by just walking on to the scene (note: I did not say in
to a scene) with your blunderbuss zoom lens. It sometimes is
very helpful to know who you're photographing rather than just
observing them and grabbing a few frames.
> Like I said above, stay there long enough and you become... wallpaper...or
> someone to rob, the last distinction being made the ~moment~ you arrive.
You know, you really are missing the point. It's not about
staying there long enough, it's about relating to the people,
and becoming close to them. Yes, once you've established a
rapport with people you can become wallpaper - maybe even
without that rapport. But there's no way people are going to
let you into their home and become privy to their personal
lives, if all you do is go down to Fifth & Main and set up a
tripod with a tele-zoom lens.
> You'll have to explain to ~me~ whose benefit, other than our own, is being
> served. Whether point and shoot, digital or film, our meanderings seriously
> disturb the locals, even if only for the moments.
Well, then take a look at the work of some photo journalists
whose work serves the people. Look at Salgado, Nachtway,
Capa, Burrows, Chim, and others. Their photos have brought
attention to suffering and pain, and have been a force for
change in the world. I can only aspire to do half as much, but
I try. If, as has happened, one of my photos gets published
or hung, and has been seen by someone who is moved to action,
then I feel I have been successful. I don't believe my being
on the streets will "seriously disturb the locals".
> Travel the Caribbean backwaters and you'll see evidence of our "being
there,"
> mostly in those by now ubiquitous sheet metal Coke and Pepsi signs stuck in
> the most unimaginable places.
Coke & Pepsi has nothing to do with what I'm doing. I've been
in many "backwaters" in Panama, Peru, and Mexico. I bring
nothing with me, and leave no trash. I often contact the
people I've photographed after I've returned home, sending
them photos or perhaps other things.
> Partly right in that the street kids in ~any~ city will hound you to death
> for "one dolla, you take my picture." A studied gaze and a sound "get the
> **** out of here" usually skidoos them away.
Your approach is very interesting, and totally at odds with
mine. When i was in Cuzco I was approached by one of these
"street urchins" as you call them. Sure he wanted money, and
I gave him some. We went to a small restaurant and i bought
him a sandwich, and after talking for a while, I hired him as
a guide and a "fixer". He showed me places in Cuzco I'd never
have found on my own, and put me in touch with people who got
me out of the city into rural areas, where I could explore the
countryside and see a more indigenous way of life.
> As for us disturbing the locals, you accord photographers with some kind of
> mystique we do not possess.
Nonsense. I never said anything remotely resembling that.
But we, as rich Americans do possess the ability to change
lives (as you noted above) by being helpful instead of
exploitive, by being open instead of aloof, and by
contributing what we can to help the less fortunate.
Sometimes a camera is a good tool to break the ice and make a
connection that will benefit all involved.
> Worse is to approach an area looking as if you need friend. Even worse is
> giving the appearance of fear, which can get your "a** kicked, your money
> took and your name put in the undertaker's book" as the old Ghetto saying
> goes.
Well, I must be doing something right, 'cause I'm still here.
> But in the deep backwoods of any nation, its what the "outside world"
brings
> to their communities that "disturbs" them most. Unless the photographer
(and
> crew) do a thorough pick-up, removing any evidence of their being there,
the
> natives will have our ~trash~ to remind them. It's our mere coming that
> screws them for life.
See my comments above wrt trash. Who the hell are you talking
about, anyway. The original point of my first message dealt
with using a tripod on city streets, and now you're raising
the flag of photographers trashing and abusing people in poor
and underdeveloped nations. But I'll bit because I'm a sucker
for this sort of thing. Who does more damage to these
impoverished people - a National Geographic photographer or
the criminal dictators and greedy politicians that steal food,
medicine, and money from their own people? If, as
photographers, we can "disturb" things enough to effect a
change, and somehow improve the lives of a few people, than I
say let's make some noise and wake a few people up.
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