There must be something in the air. Obviously we still have coronavirus floating around, but there seems to be something else. We appear to be going through some stages similar to that of Grief. First we had Shock. That’s usually followed by Denial, quite a few world leaders are perhaps still living in that phase. Next we have Anger and Depression. I faced some anger in Bath a few days ago, lots of accusations which I’ll share with you later. Not from this guy in the opening shot above, which was taken at dusk opposite the Royal Crescent, Bath. Actually Mr. Angry doesn’t appear at all and there’s a valid reason for that. I took very few photos that day, but will include them here in this post, regardless of quality, because I have little to show for enduring 32c of heat and receiving unnecessary abuse. I’ll also explain why I don’t take photos of the homeless or vulnerable.
Last week I read an article by my friend Jeff Chane-Mouye where he discussed ‘Confrontation in Street Photography’. The next day I watched a video on Youtube from a Street Photographer and Film Maker based in Hawaii, Tim Huynh who I follow: ‘10 Techniques on How to Avoid Confrontation on the Street’. It’s a light hearted, but informative video for those who don’t already know these techniques I suggest you take a look. It’s strange how these things come up, you read about something and next thing you know you’re hearing or seeing it everywhere. As it is with confrontation on the Street.
I’d promised myself a trip into Bath once I heard the shops had reopened a couple of weeks ago. I wrote before how Bath had turned into a Ghost Town. I was fascinated to see how it might have changed. First and foremost I want to see people in the city from a rather selfish point of view, namely Street Photography. I’m also interested in the financial impact of this pandemic. In the shot below I’m in the main shopping street of Bath, we see the shop on the right is ‘To Let’ and empty. The shop on the left announces that there’s ‘20% Off Everything’. Doesn’t look as though either of these two are tempted. England is often described as a ‘Nation of Shopkeepers’ and I feel for those desperately trying to make ends meet. I can’t see it improving either, there’ll be some stimulus from our ‘Glorious Leader’ aka Boris Johnson, or Winston Churchill ‘Lite’ as I refer to him, but shoppers will be holding back, waiting for tax cuts on big items, if they have any money to spend that is.
Of course, some pent up demand is there for sure, but in August various Job Retention and other government schemes begin to end and we may see the unemployment figure rise by a further million or more. Now that fuels a bit of anger and frustration, depression too. Another element that sparks some anger amongst Britons is heat. We can’t take it, the humidity is often unbearable once the thermometer gets above the high 28c or so. We’re not equipped for it, apart from shops and offices very few homes have air conditioning. Nobody gets a good nights sleep. When it’s hot here we see tempers fray at the edges. Fights break out, riots begin, stabbings increase. There’s often some civil unrest, but as my friend Kev says “P.C. Rain often brings back law and order”. P.C. is an abbreviation for Police Constable by the way. He’s right, once the rain begins, the temperature cools down along with those hotheads who want trouble.
I did say ‘regardless of quality’, that shot above demonstrates how hungry the seagulls and pigeons are. No people equates to no food, the birdlife is getting pretty pissed off too. Normally there’d be tourists to bulk the food scraps out, along with office workers and shoppers. Slim pickings for the birds and Street Photographers alike. Let’s move on to our angry man.
That’s not him either, just some movement that caught my eye. Besides this is a lady and we chatted afterwards about how quiet Bath had become. I can’t explain why I take these shots, it must seem pretty weird to an outsider, it seems weird to me sometimes and I’m not entirely sure I understand myself what I’m trying to achieve. Anyway, I was walking past the Bus Station, there was a homeless guy sat on the floor. I went out onto the road to avoid him, once I stepped back on the pavement it started. “You want to watch it with that camera”. He’d stood up walking towards me. “Why’s that then?” I replied, standing my ground. “You’re a scum bag, taking secret photos, you scumbag”. I assured him that I hadn’t taken his photo, nor would I want to. “You’re a lying scumbag too”. “Okay, have a good day” was my reply. It was pointless explaining to him, I doubt he would understand Street Photography or about layers, light, framing, at least not in his current mental state. He was hungry, hot, penniless and with no prospect of any coins coming his way due to the lack of people or those willing to donate. I always think that it’s a very thin line between living a reasonably comfortable life and being homeless on the streets. Perhaps he needed to lash out at someone.
I wanted to show him the LCD display to prove that I hadn’t taken his photo, but I reckon he’d have damaged the camera. I wanted to tell him about the donations that have been made to homeless charities. The conversations I’ve had regarding photography with people who run these charities that help the vulnerable in society. I never take shots of the homeless. To begin with it’s ‘amateur hour’ in photography terms, sitting targets that beginners shoot. My contact at one charity told me how it makes him furious when he sees photos of the homeless on Social Media. He went on to explain that many friends, families, mums, dads, wives, husbands, have absolutely no idea that their loved one is sleeping rough, addicted to drugs or possibly suicidal. The first they know is when a photo pops up in their facebook or Instagram feed of their dad or son, laying in their own sick on a pavement and someone has commented “Amazing Shot my friend!!!”. They thought that dad or son was working abroad or on an oil rig, whatever excuse had been given to them. It’s extremely upsetting for everyone. So, I didn’t take a shot of him and nor any of the others I see on the streets every time I venture out. I’m not saying that unintentionally they appear in a frame occasionally and generally I’ll delete them when I upload the images from the SD Card to the computer. I can tell you that when I’m in Vegas it’s sometimes really difficult to tell the difference between the homeless and some of the gamblers. Often they’re one and the same. It’s not very ‘fancy’ Downtown, mostly it’s a scruffy looking clientele. I wrote here on this blog a while ago about how I was stood outside a casino on my last visit and someone wandered up to me and asked if I was hungry! Man, I must look a mess after a week there!
I suppose I’m reasonably recognisable in Bath, often seen loitering around with my camera. Maybe I was confused with some other Street Photographers who walk those same streets. Obviously Bath is usually teeming with tourists and so I either look like one or I’m difficult to spot amongst the hoards of sightseers. Before Coronavirus I’d decided that Bristol would be my preferred destination in any case and until things pick up that’ll be where I’ll be shooting for the foreseeable future. I have to say that over the years I’ve had very little confrontation from the public. A couple of times someone has said something to me, both times I hadn’t even taken their photo. I fear that some people might be mistaken in the belief that they’re more interesting than they actually are in reality. Perhaps they want attention. Who knows? I do sense there’s a bit of an edge currently with people, frustration at the situation we all find ourselves in.
To finish here’s two of shots from our visit to Budleigh Salterton beach last week. It’s interesting how the British press was dominated by a photo of huge crowds at Bournemouth beach. On the BBC app they showed that same photo and then commented with another image saying “although in other photos social distancing seems to have been practised”. Well there’s an easy answer to that, the photo that made the headlines was taken with a telephoto lens, lots of compression making it look as though everyone was closely packed together, the other photo taken with a 28 or 35mm to give a more accurate representation. That said, tempers flared at Bournemouth, the locals are up in arms and lots of people up and down the country tutted to themselves over their morning coffee. Eventually the final stage , now it’s raining again, will be acceptance…I hope.
As always my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read this blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with Summicron 28mm Lens fitted.
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