MHPhotos_
dream dashed
On an evening stroll around my neighbourhood a few weeks ago I stumbled upon extremely personal litter, and a moral quandary. As a naturally inquisitive, nosey sort of person, seeing these strewn items – photographs, a notepad, photo albums, ripped paper – piqued my interest. It struck me as sad, romantic, melancholic, kind of beautiful, all helped by the dipping magic hour sunlight. Handwriting these days helps everything to appear so much more personal.
But was it a fair subject? Using someone’s trauma in this way? Somebody, probably in the heat of an emotional moment, had dumped a large part of their relationship history, apparently uncaringly into a public space where people walk.
It might have been hurled from the high-rise window of an apartment, or from a car; it was a strange place to find it. It was roughly anonymised and there was nothing which explicitly revealed an identity. Did that make it ok? Was it more or less intrusive than capturing a street photograph of an arguing couple?
If I had touched anything, flicked through a pad or photo album, it’s possible I could have discovered more about the couple, but that was bordering on creepy and wherever possible, I prefer not to touch things I photograph, so everything remained exactly as I had found it.
I decided to wait a few weeks before deciding whether or not to share, and I’m still not totally confident or comfortable about it. Sometimes it's good to go ahead with such things anyway; there are rewards and benefits in asking those questions.
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blog | Pinterest | Google+ | Weddings | Arrows
dream dashed
On an evening stroll around my neighbourhood a few weeks ago I stumbled upon extremely personal litter, and a moral quandary. As a naturally inquisitive, nosey sort of person, seeing these strewn items – photographs, a notepad, photo albums, ripped paper – piqued my interest. It struck me as sad, romantic, melancholic, kind of beautiful, all helped by the dipping magic hour sunlight. Handwriting these days helps everything to appear so much more personal.
But was it a fair subject? Using someone’s trauma in this way? Somebody, probably in the heat of an emotional moment, had dumped a large part of their relationship history, apparently uncaringly into a public space where people walk.
It might have been hurled from the high-rise window of an apartment, or from a car; it was a strange place to find it. It was roughly anonymised and there was nothing which explicitly revealed an identity. Did that make it ok? Was it more or less intrusive than capturing a street photograph of an arguing couple?
If I had touched anything, flicked through a pad or photo album, it’s possible I could have discovered more about the couple, but that was bordering on creepy and wherever possible, I prefer not to touch things I photograph, so everything remained exactly as I had found it.
I decided to wait a few weeks before deciding whether or not to share, and I’m still not totally confident or comfortable about it. Sometimes it's good to go ahead with such things anyway; there are rewards and benefits in asking those questions.
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blog | Pinterest | Google+ | Weddings | Arrows