When to put the camera down?

W00DY

Hi All,

My boy hurt himself today :cry .

I usually put the camera down when this happens, but this time I took one more photo...



I felt bad while taking the photo (and I did rush it) but in a way I am glad I took it. Not sure why, but I really like the way it came out, I can almost feel the pain he was in which is not a good thing, but then again it means something to me? Not sure how to explain it.

Anyway C&C always welcome.

Cheers,
W00DY

photogmomma

Hehe, I always felt guilty doing that, but seeing such a fun picture and realizing they would get over it made it all better. !

Awesome conversion, wonderful shot!

binghott

wow, i don't know if i could ever do that, but the result was fantastic.

that's an amazing capture! and great b&w!

wxwax

This women is heavily criticized for her series of images of crying children.

Some of the criticism gets nasty.

As long as your lad wasn't seriously injured, what's the harm? Although he may be a bit embarassed in years to come.

asylumxl

Jill Greenberg is a sick woman. Your photo is fine to me, you did not do anything to hurt him or to make him cry, did you, you just simply documented it? But she did it all deliberately for her own self gain in the world of the arts, and to me that just isn't right.

I like the tones and the lighting of this photo.

LilleG

Capturing the moment is fine but I agree with Asylumxl on Jill Greenberg. It is never acceptable to deliberately make a child cry, even temporarily, for one's personal benefit.

photogmomma

wxwax wrote:

This women is heavily criticized for her series of images of crying children.

Some of the criticism gets nasty.

As long as your lad wasn't seriously injured, what's the harm? Although he may be a bit embarassed in years to come.

OMG! That is just WRONG! I cannot believe anyone would EVER deliberately MAKE a child cry just for a photo. But to do it on a ongoing basis is just FREAKY!! Wrong.

Personally, I believe that if a child gets "hurt" or upset ("hurt" = something that not serious at all) and you snap a shot, so be it. But to do something deliberate or ignore a child that is truly hurt just to get that shot is crazy.

Thanks for the links. Definitely thought provoking!

Still a great shot, Woody.

photocat

photogmomma wrote:

OMG! That is just WRONG! I cannot believe anyone would EVER deliberately MAKE a child cry just for a photo. But to do it on a ongoing basis is just FREAKY!! Wrong.


I often snap crying children, that is, if they are not critically injured or blood is involved. Funny is that I could never snap my own when they were crying. Pouting yes, I have a LOT of pouting shots of my middle sons. Now that he is a grown up, I find that most of the shots of him are in pouting, semi-crying or almost crying mode, which makes me wonder if he was a really unhappy boy and I did not notice it...
Jill Greenberg is in my eyes not even an artist, I don't like her heavy photoshopped photographs. I find them tacky... That is not considered that she deliberately makes them cry... On the edge if you ask me...

And saying that in UK right now, you can get nasty comments if you snap a kid with a gorgeous face eating a giant ice cream..., if it is more then happy.

Why is Greenberg still getting jobs? Who are the people making her rich?
I would not like her to get near one of my kids...

asylumxl

photocat wrote:

Why is Greenberg still getting jobs? Who are the people making her rich?
I would not like her to get near one of my kids...

'cos wannabe upperclass art collectors will pay for anything.

W00DY

photogmomma wrote:

Awesome conversion, wonderful shot!

Thanks, It was done in Aperture using a B&W with yellow filter (I think) conversion. I have no idea about B&W so I am glad applications have settings you can use

wxwax wrote:

This women is heavily criticized for her series of images of crying children.

This is just not right :splat

wxwax wrote:

As long as your lad wasn't seriously injured, what's the harm? Although he may be a bit embarassed in years to come.

No, he was not seriously hurt, only cryed for about a minute then was back into it... He actually likes the image at the moment, thinks it is funny

asylumxl wrote:

you did not do anything to hurt him or to make him cry, did you,

God no. As I said, I felt guilty taking a simple photo of him, there wasn't even any tears at this stage and I still felt guilty

Thanks for all the comments.

W00DY

urbanaries

I like this shot and see nothing wrong with it at all.

IMO there's nothing wrong with capturing hardship, pain, suffering, despair. Personally I find capturing those emotions just as valid as joy, happiness, love, etc. Although captializing on someone else's pain can be done in poor taste, it happens ALL the time, and our society rewards this practice.

That Greenburg lady takes it to a new low...intentionally harming a child to evoke/capture those emotions and charging $4500 a print is certainly self absorbed, exploitative cruelty. [Although taking a sucker away from a toddler isn't exactly "abuse".]

evoryware

I like the shot. If I was, say, his older brother, I might use it to rub it in for the rest of his life.

JenniCob21

She is a sick woman indeed. I agree that taking pictures of a child crying (on their own and not invoked) is good. I took one of my nephew crying when he dropped his toy over the ledge of my dad's basement stairs....he wasn't hurt, just upset he dropped his toy. But to make a child cry for the purpose of getting photos for your OWN gain, that's just indescent. What's the point in putting a child through such distress if they don't need to be?

On a happier note, Woody I think this shot is great. I love the contrast. I think Black and White was the right way to go with it!

Jenni

photogmomma wrote:

OMG! That is just WRONG! I cannot believe anyone would EVER deliberately MAKE a child cry just for a photo. But to do it on a ongoing basis is just FREAKY!! Wrong.

Personally, I believe that if a child gets "hurt" or upset ("hurt" = something that not serious at all) and you snap a shot, so be it. But to do something deliberate or ignore a child that is truly hurt just to get that shot is crazy.

Thanks for the links. Definitely thought provoking!

Still a great shot, Woody.

dancinkate

I have lots of shots of my "angels" pouting and throwing a fit but I agree that the photographer mentioned goes too far with her images. Your image is well done (great lighting, good conversion)....I really like it.

schmoo

My father was quite a photographer when I was little, and I still remember getting so mad when he tried to take photos of me crying that I would just cry more!

That said, I think your photo is wonderful! I am just glad I'm not still the powerless crying one.

heatherfeather

Inspired by your pic, I just waited... And then this afternoon when my daughter was pitching a fit about helping to clean up the yard (for which I paid her a dollar) I got these snaps. She is the six year old drama queen- she even mustered up tears and everything. Anyway... thanks for being brave and posting your crying pic. I do like it!