Santa Monica, California

Seefutlung · July 15, 2006

This Gallery is divided into two sections. The first is the SM Pier and the Bubble Man. The second is Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade, an outdoor mall covering six city blocks, an attraction for locals and tourists. Due to liberal city policies, Santa Monica is called the Homeless Capital of the West. Amidst the glitz of expensive boutiques and resturants of the 3rd Street Promenade live the homeless and the odd.

http://garyayala.smugmug.com/gallery/1670903

81882786-L.jpg

THE TOUCH · July 16, 2006

Gary - Great shot!

Hope you don't mind the post, but I like this one! -

Intense shots with the homeless. Very humbling. Thank you for sharing.

BUBBLES, BUBBLES, BUBBLES!!!

saurora · July 16, 2006

Super gallery, Gary! Intriguing combination of 2 sides of life in the city. Your bubble images just "pop" (pun intended) and are amazing. I like your use of the wide angle lens, it distorts and seems especially appropriate for the distorted life the homeless and the odd exist in.

Seefutlung · July 16, 2006

Appreciate the comments, Touch. The bubbles I can improve, the Bubble Man is there all the time, ... the homless ... not sure about keeping the gallery ... humbling is one word ... embarrassed is another.

Seefutlung · July 16, 2006

saurora wrote:

Super gallery, Gary! Intriguing combination of 2 sides of life in the city. Your bubble images just "pop" (pun intended) and are amazing. I like your use of the wide angle lens, it distorts and seems especially appropriate for the distorted life the homeless and the odd exist in.

Thanks Susan, I am at odds with the homeless part of the gallery. As a former journalist, I recognized that my gallery is just a cursory and fleeting glimpse into their lives. So, I feel that although the representation is real, it is shallow and I'll probably will delete that gallery.

wolfies · July 16, 2006

i like the bubbles

Seefutlung · July 16, 2006

If anybody cares, I put a bit more time into the gallery, responded to the comments and made some changes. Once again Santa Monica snaps can be found here:

http://garyayala.smugmug.com/gallery/1670903

PS- Thanks for the comments
-G-

saurora · July 16, 2006

Seefutlung wrote:

Thanks Susan, I am at odds with the homeless part of the gallery. As a former journalist, I recognized that my gallery is just a cursory and fleeting glimpse into their lives. So, I feel that although the representation is real, it is shallow and I'll probably will delete that gallery.

Gary, I have passed up numerous opportunities to shoot homeless people. On one hand I feel like I would be exploiting the homeless by taking shots of their situation. But on the other hand I feel I have turned my head and chosen to ignore their dispair. Because we care and feel powerless to fix the problem, and we know that society in general places homelessness low on their list of priorities, it makes us extremely uncomfortable. We are ashamed to be a part of a society that does not take care of it's own. I don't feel your gallery is shallow, because obviously your consideration to take it down shows that you care. Also if the gallery makes us feel uncomfortable, it gives hope that some will act upon that feeling by some sort of humane gesture. There is another thread you have probably seen that is currently dealing with the same subject and the same uncomfortable feelings.

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38208

Seefutlung · July 16, 2006

wolfies wrote:

<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" > i like the bubbles

Yeah .. bubbles are like children and puppies ... can't go wrong .. :<)

Seefutlung · July 17, 2006

saurora wrote:

Gary, I have passed up numerous opportunities to shoot homeless people. On one hand I feel like I would be exploiting the homeless by taking shots of their situation. But on the other hand I feel I have turned my head and chosen to ignore their dispair. Because we care and feel powerless to fix the problem, and we know that society in general places homelessness low on their list of priorities, it makes us extremely uncomfortable. We are ashamed to be a part of a society that does not take care of it's own. I don't feel your gallery is shallow, because obviously your consideration to take it down shows that you care. Also if the gallery makes us feel uncomfortable, it gives hope that some will act upon that feeling by some sort of humane gesture. There is another thread you have probably seen that is currently dealing with the same subject and the same uncomfortable feelings.

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38208

S- Thanks for the link, but (the big but), being a journalist for a decade ana half, I have a rather thick skin, and I am somewhat able to divorce myself from the stories I cover (which isn't true ... one learns to bury feelings/emotions behind a professional face in order to attain a semblance of objectivity and functionality ... after all ... there are deadlines to meet).

Displaying a bunch of homeless in SM is somewhat entertaining, but doesn't deliver a message/depth of what it means to be homeless. Sure, around dinner time it's the KFC trash bin ... Starbucks when one decdes to start the day ... the trade-off is absolutely no responsibility ... if Thoreau had a mortage to pay would he have time to think? But I digress. I doubt that any of the homeless I saw chose not to work in order to contemplate the meaning of life.

In any event, I just dont feel I am doing the subject justice ... there may be a lot more there that I didn't see ... on the flip side ... maybe I captured it all ... I just don't know ... as such, I feel uncomfortable with that gallery, which by my standards, is more amusing than illuminating and truthful.

Seefutlung · July 17, 2006

saurora wrote:

Gary, I have passed up numerous opportunities to shoot homeless people. On one hand I feel like I would be exploiting the homeless by taking shots of their situation. But on the other hand I feel I have turned my head and chosen to ignore their dispair. Because we care and feel powerless to fix the problem, and we know that society in general places homelessness low on their list of priorities, it makes us extremely uncomfortable. We are ashamed to be a part of a society that does not take care of it's own. I don't feel your gallery is shallow, because obviously your consideration to take it down shows that you care. Also if the gallery makes us feel uncomfortable, it gives hope that some will act upon that feeling by some sort of humane gesture. There is another thread you have probably seen that is currently dealing with the same subject and the same uncomfortable feelings.

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38208

S- Thanks for the link, but (the big but), being a journalist for a decade ana half, I have a rather thick skin, and I am somewhat able to divorce myself from the stories I cover (which isn't true ... one learns to bury feelings/emotions behind a professional face in order to attain a semblance of objectivity and functionality ... after all ... there are deadlines to meet).

Displaying a bunch of homeless in SM is somewhat entertaining, but doesn't deliver a message/depth of what it means to be homeless. Sure, around dinner time it's the KFC trash bin ... Starbucks when one decdes to start the day ... the trade-off is absolutely no responsibility ... if Thoreau had a mortage to pay would he have time to think? But I digress. I doubt that any of the homeless I saw chose not to work in order to contemplate the meaning of life.

In any event, I just dont feel I am doing the subject justice ... there may be a lot more there that I didn't see ... on the flip side ... maybe I captured it all ... I just don't know ... as such, I feel uncomfortable with that gallery, which by my standards, is more amusing than illuminating and truthful.

Santa Monica, California

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