Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/03

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Subject: Re: [Leica] shell's berkeley photos
From: Shel Belinkoff <belinkoff@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 10:03:37 -0700
References: <004f01c14c44$2094e300$6b38fea9@thunderbelly>

Dear Kyle ...

Bob is a Vietnam Vet, lives at a small, hotel on University Avenue in
Berkeley.  He is not homeless.  He has a disability benefit from the
military and receives some other monies as well, perhaps from social
security. He's 52 years old and has little to say about his history
other than he lived in the midwest - Chicago - before his stint in
Vietnam.  He has aspirations to be a song writer, although it's not
clear to me if he ever wrote before, and I suspect he's just
dreaming.  However, other people in his position, and worse, have
pulled themselves up from living in subway tunnels and the like, and
have made something of a career for themselves.  There are many good,
inexpensive restaurants in the area, and he has a hot plate in his
room at the hotel. He sometimes gets take out food, other times he
cooks at home.

Bob is a part of an ongoing project.  He is not the project.  I've
tried moving into the hotel in which he lives but there were no rooms
available the three times I inquired.

Bob is more than a face to me, as are a number of other people the
frequent that area of Berkeley.

Please do me a favor ... spell my name correctly.  Thanks! 

kyle cassidy wrote:
 
> while the plug's 10 commandments of photography
> (http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/cassidy/leicaslacker/plug/10/index.html)
> strictly forbid photographing homeless people, it does allow for photo
> essays on homeless persons. we see a face and you have the opportunity to
> make that face into a person for us. where does he sleep? where does he eat?
> what's his story? where was he born? what was he doing in 1971?
> 
> you've chosen an extremely difficult subject to photograph and you've made
> an inroad here, clear it out, turn this picture into something real. without
> the depth of time and attention, it'll just be a guy.
> 
> rah rah rah [remainder of mary ellen mark style rant deleted]
> 
> good start,
> 
> kyle

- -- 
Shel Belinkoff
mailto:belinkoff@earthlink.net
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In reply to: Message from "kyle cassidy" <kcassidy@asc.upenn.edu> ([Leica] shell's berkeley photos)