I’ve opined about homeless and street photography before, so I’ll merely pose this as a question:
Does focusing on panhandlers and paying them $2 for a picture make it better or worse?
I’ve got mixed feelings, but there’s something vaguely unsettling about it to me.
Wow, I’m really torn on this one. Reading his blog, he seems sincere. I think it’s probably fine and a decent icebreaker. All my portraits have been done with no compensation and I feel that it adds a level of honesty to the encounter. You know, I’m not paying you for your time with me.
At the end, I have often offered a pack of buglers. Just kind of as a little ‘thanks’.
In his case, I think it’s a bit artistic to pay them since they were asking for money. That’s what the relationship is built on. That’s what the project is about.
Eh. You both get what you want. How would you like it if someone opined on how you should spend your cash before paying you for a service?
That said, I feel guilty giving money to panhandlers, too, and yet sometimes I do it. Excessively. As if to make up for the times I didn’t do it. Aargh.
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One the one hand, the homeless appreciate any positive publicity of their plight, on the other hand, I’d feel better if the dude were giving them actual items (can opener, batteries, matches, etc) rather than cash, since money often goes toward alcohol/drugs.