Stills

Following on from Colin's comment, this would be just the sort of shot that I would automatically try out in b/w. In this case, I suspect that it wouldn't do justice to the scene. First of all, is this Praha too? There are certainly plenty of beggars in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The cobbled street is an added indication.

The shot needed a tiny bit more air to straighten the building without losing 'swatch'. The moment, though, looks fairly unique. Has the beggar fallen forward accidentally? Or is that his normal pose? The girl's expression would seem to indicate something slightly out of the ordinary, more than just an expression of sympathy; perhaps exasperation, maybe even a slight fright. Probably coincidence, but the tyre tracks give the appearance that vehicles have been skirting round him. The golden light is a rather powerful comment on the contrast between the lives of those at the top and the bottom of the heap.
 

I found taking pictures like this very intimidating, I am not comfortable at all, almost as if I am adding to his misery.

It was the tyre tracks around him that first caught my eye. The picture was taken near the art deco theatre in Praha. This was where I felt intimidated by a drunk who was singing and staggering down the path, I didn't point the camera at him. The beggars all seem to kneel and tended not to move or look up, this was unusual.

I have one image with just the tyre tracks and no pedestrians. I thought this composition to be the strongest I had.
 

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This reminds of the pose that most Korean beggars strike; face down, highly submissive and deeply passive in contrast to the very aggresive beggars I'm used to in the States.

Although this is indeed very well done, particularly in the way the figure is boxed in by the tire tracks and the diagonal line of the cobble stones, it seems somehow inhumane to comment on anything beyond the human misery of the scene.
 

"..it seems somehow inhumane to comment on anything beyond the human misery of the scene..."

I know that the debate about shooting 'misery' is endless but both picture and comment have their place at a political level. The standard of living for many in Central and Eastern Europe is still low for many since 1989 despite having joined the EU. Which is why so many come to UK (and other countries) to find work. They even come to our part of Wales, where wages are around 1/2 to 3/4 of those in Cardiff or England. Photos of this nature have their place if only to say that there are things that most of our media airbrush out.
 

"but both picture and comment have their place at a political level"

I wouldn't disagree with that. Photos of misery do indeed have their place, particularly one as well executed as this.
 

Maybe its because I'm a Londoner.....

At the end of his "session" he gets up, dusts himself down, collects his belongings from the guy around the corner and walks home.

I got quite good at telling the difference between destitute and professional at one point. Ugh, cities, who'd have them.
 

There is a lot to like in this picture. Great lighting has helped and evening though shooting in to the sun the main two subjects are not in shadow. The detail in the far left could be burnt in somewhat though. I don't think it adds much and some of the hair highlights a little distracting. Another take on this is that you have reflected a simple theme and the busy background adds nothing more to this.

Great work.

There are homeless in Japan regardless of what the government say. Officials are currently pulling down tents in an Osaka park that is close to the stadium that will hold the world athletics championships later this year. They have performed this 'cleansing' on more than one occasion when the world spotlight focuses on Japan. Once you have lost your job in Japan then pretty quickly your world collapses if you cannot find income. The local governments provide sheltered housing (and massage homeless figures) and the like but many of the homeless are wary of getting back in to the system that cast them out so quickly. They do not beg, they try to work for small income - collecting rubbish for recycling is a main source of financing. The only open begging you see are monks holding out a bowl for alms.
 

"...you have reflected a simple theme and the busy background adds nothing more to this..."

I am not sure that begging can take place as a simple theme, ie without context. What goes on in the picture does indicate, to a degree, the circumstances that have led to, or in which take place, begging. If presented more as a portrait then Matt's view kicks in.
 

Wrong choice of words by me trying to express my thoughts. Another go: the interaction between the two passers-by and the begger are the focus of the picture. In themsleves they carry the shot and provide more than enough information about location and actions. I find the additional information carried at the back of the picture 'busy' and detracting from the theme this photograph projects.
 

I agree entirely with your first couple of sentences: the last sentence is open to discussion, from my perspective at least!
 

I interpreted this as an image of a drunk. Heh. The light is great but what really catches my eye is the look on the woman's face and her pose, hand to head. Her man looking back, one step ahead of his partner almost as if he is hurrying her past what he thinks is the "danger zone".
 

You might be interested in reading this short piece about Hogarth in the link. It's only tangentially connected to Rex's picture and implies no direct connection, but is educational if nothing else!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2007333,00.html
 

John,

Thanks for the Hogarth link. It even manages to make a bit of the Tate sound tempting!
 

Rex,

I've been meaning to ask (in an exploratory way, not a challenging way): if you find this sort of photography intimidating, why do you do it?

I know that I have a threshold. In any 'street' or public photography there comes a point when I think some mixture of 'I don't want to be doing this' and 'I shouldn't be doing this'.
 

Good question.
In my previous 'bout' of photography I did not feel intimidated by photographing people in public places. Something has changed and I am not sure what. I've grown older and perhaps have lost a bit of youthful exhuberance which makes you feel invincible and that you can do no wrong. Public perception of photographers seems to have changed. What ever the cause I now feel intimidated when trying to take pictures of people in public places and I am trying to overcome that intimidation. For example I was with Doro when she took THIS. , I am not sure I could ever get to do that.
 

You need to get a bit older Rex! Then you enter a second childhood. It all depends what one wants to photograph and why. For me it doesn't take too long before landscape (more commonly urban as that is where most people are) gets a bit empty without the challenge of fitting people in. That it is not simple, either through aversion or suspicion as a result of the last decade's ridiculous scaremongering, is very true. Our most difficult time was in Latin America where you either meet ethnic groups or tribes who do not want to be photographed or their more modern contemporaries who want to charge to have their photo taken! My rule of thumb is that I shoot within legal limits unless I sense that that would not be a good idea (drug-pushers in Madrid don't appreciate having their photo taken much!) or would be overly intrusive or, regrettably, if I feel that there is a risk that my intention would be misunderstood. So there is plenty of caveatting going on in my head but I'll go for it if I can. Sometimes I'll ask and, if you look at my site, it is quite easy to spot when I have asked someone, though not always!