Street Photography - Right or Wrong and When Does it Cross the Line?

[Raid]

This is the type of photography that I love, I just wish I had the talent to be one. I often think the the term street photography is wrong, it should be called photojournalism or a picture that tells a story. I have taken many such photos but its extremely rare for me to post any as I regard such photos as an invasion of privacy.

The man on the train tracks is just the latest in a long stream of images that make us question our values, and the values of those who look through the lens. While we can say the photographer should have helped and not taken the photo, we (the public) are also to blame because we buy the papers. We are the reason why the shot is so valuable.

I think that all of us would like to think we would do the right thing, but life has convinced me that we have no idea of how we would react until we are tested.

[M_Six]

Look at some past Pulitzer Prize images and you'll see people on the brink of death. One that I recall showed a mother and her daughter falling from a burning building. The mother died, the daughter landed on her mother and lived. It's a haunting, disturbing image. The famous shot of the Challenger explosion catches the moment of death for 7 brave astronauts, albeit not as up-close-and-personal as the subway shot. It's a very gray area indeed. Shots of homeless people are also two sided. They can raise awareness and compassion for a troubling societal issue, but they can also seem like an invasion of privacy and an assault on the dignity everyone deserves. Tough call.

I've done some street photography, but only of people who were not "in distress" shall we say. I don't feel I invaded their privacy as the shots only show what they were doing in public view anyway. And there was no loss of dignity. But I agree with Denise that there are times when your moral compass is having a hard time pointing north when deciding whether to take the shot or not. Even with the subway shot, some folks feel it was ok to print and others are horrified by it. I guess our moral compasses don't always point to the same north.