bsky.app/profile/anto... Camps (denizens not present): telephoto is fair play, and important documentary. Reportage of the unseen world, folks can't turn away I rarely photograph camps up close. Like walking onto someone's porch and snapping inside windows, high yick

Actual homeless: if theyre actively panhandling, it's a two-way thing, they are using the public space, i am in it too--i try to be discreet or pass unseen via (300+) telephoto If folks are sleeping rough where there's no privacy (bus stop, passed out in park) i will document it

If folks have a camp under the viaduct or a little ways in the woods, in the cloverleaf of the interstate, etc: theyve built an ersatz home, and like a campsite at a park it would be trespass for me to leer

Overall as i am very far in a documentary-before-art stance, i am making images to serve the awareness of humankind, make suffering visible to the priveliged or wilfully ignorant...

I hold little claim to my street images as "art" that I own. It's a public good and i wrestle with my conscience (and delete oversteps) pretty frequently. But pushing into unseen worlds is exactly the mandate We are astronauts

I appreciate you always sharing your perspective in my posts 🙏🏻 I think people should have more time to think about the homeless and when met face-to-face with the images of human beings in such a place, it might trigger reflection. Though these days, I worry people just use it as a reminder of..

How good they have it rather than “we should do something about it”. However doing something about it is a deeper systemic issue that has to be addressed in legislation and government action that we often don’t have a say in 😔

word my thought is at the very least (if one isn't laying on very thick Nik Collection B&W *arrrrtsy* filters) ...at the very least there is a 'field guide' aspect, if one is familiar ahead of time, one can act closer to one's values and less out of fear/aversion if folks have values to begin w/ 🤷‍♂️

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I use Nik don’t make fun of my Nik collection I’m dying rn I feel so called out hahahahah But yes I agree 💀

oh there's lots of good use cases and It's sitting in my downloads folder right now, I was just looking to evoke the mental image of that super high contrast skin texture look that makes humans look like an iguana and in 2025 that may be on the other side of the line///I gather you can imagine

Only if they consent. I think there is an aspect of exploitation in every context except for informed consent.

One afternoon i accompanied a young photographer on his way test shots and scout venue before a boxing match next day. As we sought entry to the venue we passed a group of folks sheltering on a skybridge. He was puzzled, what event were they waiting for? He'd never seen homeless folks to recognize

Oh wow!! 😮 I can’t imagine living in a world where you never see homeless people

My impression was that it was something of an incomplete mental image. I'm sure he'd seen a homeless person, probably the rock bottom sort, just not the sort that showers every day and moves around the city to the library, picking up cans, hanging out with a space heater and slow cooker in lobbies

There definitely are different levels of homeless and different circumstances. Most are kind people and the unkind have a reason to be that way. Our system is fucked up

I feel like, for rural/suburban folks that only see homeless as panhandlers when they go to a sports game in the city, or in the median of suburban highways, their prejudices are held without knowing there are lots of unhoused folks just trying to survive alone, without help, like Japan's homeless

Definitely! If you never go out of your way enough to notice anything and just stay in your comfy zone you’ll be so out of touch with the full scope of what homelessness is.

Right I agree I also think they should receive something like food or some cash. When I started my journey with street photography I was very naive and thought the world was just open to me and I did photograph homeless without thinking. I feel this convo is super important for folks who are new

Honestly, I always feel uncomfortable taking pictures of people without their permission, homeless or otherwise. It feels invasive. But if you ask first, you probably don't get that great unrehearsed candid shot. I usually settle for crowd shots or observations from a distance.

Hmm yeah sometimes I feel invasive but if I’m trying to document a culture or someone’s little blip of life in my view finder in a respectful way then that is a justified reason to photograph them. But I can see how that’s also kind of disruptive of someone’s privacy 😅 it’s a fine line

I agree with the comments about consent.