Homeless in Harvard Square

rutt

This woman lives on the street in Harvard Square.



She told me that her parents worry about her, but she wouldn't tell me where they live. She looks kind of old for this, but I guess the life she lives takes a toll and maybe never really escaping from her parents has something to do with being where she is.

OneWayMule

My kinda pictures here

I can see the sadness in her eyes and its unfortunate that she may be still a lost child inside considering her age. Wish her the best...




ps- Was this the first time for you shooting an homeless? What did you think of the initial approach and the overall experience?

rutt

OneWayMule wrote:

My kinda pictures here
ps- Was this the first time for you shooting an homeless? What did you think of the initial approach and the overall experience?

Thank you very much. Your shots inspired this particular shoot, but it's not my first. See: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=18957

What I've been doing recently is trying to make better contact with all the street subjects I shoot, including the homeless. I think I picked this up from Yuri who gets these great poses from beautiful women he meets. One can approach street shooting like sniping, but one can also approach it like portrait shooting. I get very different results, naturally.

Of course with the homeless, the subject of a "modelling fee" usually comes up pretty quickly. There I am with obviously expensive camera wanting to shoot and there they are wanting a drink or a bite to eat. My policy is that this is money well earned on their part. $5 or $10 isn't much to me and it's a lot to them. It might sort of get in the way of real repeated contact, but I'm not really there yet.

rutt

I've been working on my PP technique for portraits (DM, LAB, Ch 16) and think I'm just getting the hang of it. Here are new versions of both these shots.





Then I did something i almost never do:



In this case, I thought her skin color was a distraction from her other facial properties. I'm still stewing on this one.

Andy

rutt wrote:

I'm still stewing on this one.

the stew's done

OneWayMule

rutt wrote:

Thank you very much. Your shots inspired this particular shoot, but it's not my first. See: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=18957

What I've been doing recently is trying to make better contact with all the street subjects I shoot, including the homeless. I think I picked this up from Yuri who gets these great poses from beautiful women he meets. One can approach street shooting like sniping, but one can also approach it like portrait shooting. I get very different results, naturally.

Of course with the homeless, the subject of a "modelling fee" usually comes up pretty quickly. There I am with obviously expensive camera wanting to shoot and there they are wanting a drink or a bite to eat. My policy is that this is money well earned on their part. $5 or $10 isn't much to me and it's a lot to them. It might sort of get in the way of real repeated contact, but I'm not really there yet.

Making a connection and then shooting def. gets unique results.

Speaking of the "fee", here's how its been working for me. If the homeless is on a (busy) street, chances are he WILL ask for some money. I personally dont want to give the impression that i will pay him before or after taking the pictures. If i feel he/she will not go spend it on beer and cigs. i may give them a few or offer to buy some food. (I'm a broke college student anyway )

But at a park, most homeless are relaxing and arent there to haggle others for some change. So they're willing to sit and chat... the peaceful atmosphere with others with their loved ones may bring up raw emotions from their childhood.

I find it very fascinating in nearly every aspect of the homeless life. So many different kinds out there and how they all try to survive in their own way.

btw - The only conversion i was able to see was the one in Andy's post () but i really liked it.



Hope to see more from you..