Sleeping his reality away

[Sheila Smart]

I sit here not knowing how to approach this shot with the forum. Yes, I take nice shots of wildlife, nice candid portraiture and the occasional (very occasional) landscape but in my heart this is what I do best. The streets of Sydney open up before my lens and I feel the need to document it and hopefully shed some sort of light on folk such as this.



and then the oddest thing happened. While I was debating what to write next, my screensaver clicked in and this image came up



Comments and critique welcome as always.
Cheers
Sheila

[ABG]

I don't know why you have even the slightest hesitation posting these images (or any of the other fantastic photos of homeless people on your website). They're emotional and intimate images and deserve to be shared.

[Alex]

Both great shots, Sheila. The first one is outstanding.

Alex

[Manta]

I'm going to go against the historical grain here Sheila and certainly mean no disrespect in doing so. You have a great technical talent and have posted some truly beautiful images but your homeless subjects don't do anything for me at all. I'm not saying I don't feel for their plight but, as photographic studies I still see the practice as too voyeuristic.

I'm not trying to buy an argument here, merely expressing my opinion. It concerns me greatly that few, if any, of these souls will ever see a computer screen, let alone their images on an internet gallery. I know, in the past, you have explained the situation in which you have befriended some of the men (was it "Mike" in one of your earliest posts?) but is this the case with all of them? Do they all know they have been photographed and dsiplayed publicly?

As I said before, I mean no disrespect and I defend your right to photograph what you deem fit. Just letting you know one person's opinion. I don't expect this to alter your personal viewpoint, just give you another perspective to add to the mix. I could have remained silent but I feel this forum encourages honesty and open expression. Hope you understand.

I enjoy your work but prefer the less controversial stuff.

[digitor]

I don't think these images are particularly controversial, but let's face it - the gritty, contrasty picture of homeless people sleeping on park benches thing has been done to death over the last thirty years or so!

Also, from a technical point of view, the patterns on the aforementioned park bench sleeper's jeans are a bit distracting - although this may be a compression artifact, and not appear on the original image.

Cheers