Seeking a photographer for humanitarian organization...

[Steve Weldon]

You were offended by Anders' images ...

Guess what? I'm sure plenty of people were offended by your holier-than-thou response to his images.

Your own reaction says more about you than the issue at hand ... as does mine.

Funny how that works.

It was obvious you were offended by my response.. but you didn't say way.  Classifying it without saying specifically why (as I did with Anders images) is useless.  I took the time to explain specifically and gave examples and I wasn't rude or impolite in the process.  You, are just letting your emotions out.  And I don't find it funny (or useful) at all.  But I do find it common on these subjects.

Saying what specifically bothers you would be helpful.  Maybe more to you than me.  

I find speaking for others is most often fraught with delusions.  Others speak for themselves as they have in this thread.  Perhaps in the future you can stick with what you feel and not try and channel others?

Do you mind me asking you a few questions?

Have you any experience with the subject?  At least past taking zoo pictures?

Are you  always so rude and hostile?  Or is the subject matter giving you those feelings and you can't control your emotions?  I ask this because it really is hard to control your emotions when you see this sort of thing first hand.  Most feel powerless, impotent, like there's nothing they can do to help.  I want to understand your rudeness and anger.  You see, all I did was politely explain why I 'felt' the way I did about certain types of images.  I did it without name calling, labeling, or rudeness.  Don't get me wrong, when it comes to other subjects I'm just as capable as you've demonstrated with going over the top concerning decorum.    I just don't think it's warranted here.

Perhaps if you try to form meaningful answers to my questions your anger will diminish.. perhaps it will increase your understanding.  Perhaps not.

[AlastairMoore]

IMO.. it's not enough to show the common pictures we see of these people that only show their differences in appearance.  Tour bus loads of tourists do that.  We have a greater responsibility to these places we visit.  With animals I greatly prefer photographing them running and playing or tracking their next meal.. the natural things they do in the course of being 'wild animals' which encompasses more than their appearance.   An eagle flying or catching a fish or fighting in mid-air does justice to the eagle.  A picture showing only an eagle.. does nothing.

The tour buses full of tourists are doing exactly that. Touring. They're on holiday and it's doubtful many of them are thinking beyond getting reminders of their time of wherever they happen to be. People on holiday on tour buses are unlikely to have the creative and technical know-how nor suitable equipment to capture eagles flying or catching fish and they certainly don't have any responsibility to capture an image beyond their own requirements. A picture showing only an eagle may well do nothing for you, however for these tourists you're casting scorn on, I doubt they've really considered your opinion of what responsibility they should have in their photography.

[Steve Weldon]

I doubt they've really considered your opinion of what responsibility they should have in their photography.

Exactly.. And like I started out saying I know this is a bit of an 'attitude' on my part.  But at some point we need to take our mind and our photography a few steps further and frankly how we view people different than us.  And I'm not so much 'scorning' the tourists.. I know why they're there and their presence as tourists brings much needed revenue into the economy.  But those who actually live in these areas, who have made it their home, and still haven't learned to see these people as more than 'different' looking.. those people need to give some more thought to their photography and perhaps why they're even there in the first place.

On July 3rd I'm leading a small group from Bangkok to Mae Sot and then further into the several of the refugee camps along the Myanmar border including the infamous Mae La.  One of our destinations is the Mae Sot local garbage dump where roughly 150 refugees live off the garbage of others.    This trip isn't my usual workshop with paid participants.. this trip is a small select group of people willing and able to help on different levels who for whatever reason (I'd like to think the exposure I provided through my own photography and writing, but I'm sure there's more to it than that) want to experience the real thing and achieve a sort or immersion..

A really loose analogy would be when I used to give ride-alongs to citizens when I worked for the SDPD.. they'd almost always have their preconceptions and thought they understood what it was like from the tv shows they watched and so forth.  Not one left after a full shift without thanking me for the time and telling me it was so much different than they could have ever imagined.  "Now we understand.."   They'd say.  Probably not as much as those who did it every day, but they were on their way..

We have a spot or two open on the July 3rd trip..  All that's required is a desire to really learn about the people..