Conflicted
Kevin Belson
@kxvxnbxlsxn7 Sep
Conflicted
This guy was clearly having a bad day. I walked past and saw him, saw he was struggling and walked on a few steps. Then I went back and took this picture. I was conflicted as to whether I should have but thought that he was there and I was here, there was no harm. There was nothing I could do and taking the image, as he was a silhouette and not recognizable, would be benign. I wonder if I could have or should have approached him but being on my own and it being an unknown situation I decided against it. It has affected me and I hope he's OK.
edited
Hi Kevin. I think it's better to take the photo than have the memory of not taking it, which will haunt you for many years.
I’m not sure that logic holds. Kevin now has a photo to remind him of the situation.
Kevin,
*Ideally* you would have checked if he was okay, but I think it’s very understandable that you didn’t.
Hi Jonathan.
Kevin has a picture that's a reminder of the situation and the conflict he felt. The picture wont morph into something else over time, which could happen if he hadn't taken it, the picture exists as a reference for the future if he finds himself in a similar situation.
I don’t think you should have taken this photo.
While the law in the USA says we have no right to privacy in public places, it’s up to us as members of society to have some moral responsibility to our fellow human beings and exercise discretion. If you were doing a story on mental illness, or homelessness or addiction and this was part of that, that could be a different thing, providing you actually knew that the man was dealing with any of those scenarios. But I would ask you, why take this photo? What is the purpose? Are you happy with it? Was it worth it to violate your own moral compass (you said you feel conflicted) for it? If you felt safe enough to go back and shoot, why not help? Did you alert anyone to his situation that you felt was dire? It feels exploitative and I think you know that it is. It doesn’t matter that you can’t see who he is, the very act of you taking the photo was the problem and then posting it was a step further. I’m not saying you’re a bad person, and I’m not trying to scold you, I’m just asking you to think a little deeper about what you were trying to achieve here.
I have to agree with what @lane.hartwell pointed out. Was there a true purpose behind this photo other than composition or framing? If you already feel conflicted of taking the pic then you know the answer, it wasn't worth it.
I also had a similar experience where I was framing a shot with multiple layers/people in the street and my friend who was accompanying me pointed out that there was a man crying and her partner was consoling him. I didn't realize at the time until I saw it in my PC and made me feel like shit.
I still have it in my archives, but I'll never post it. This is just a reminder to always take into consideration that there's more in photography than just sharing because it looks "cool".
Perhaps you can learn something from this experience and know what limits you aren't gonna cross. Most of all, trust your instincts, if you don't feel it's right to capture certain things in the first place, then don't do it. Hope this helps