Street Urchin of Bangkok

The Street Urchin of Bangkok

The camera I used was a Fuji XA1 with the 60mm lens, tho I was tempted to use the 35, but I was quite far from the subjects I was shooting so needed the extra length. With 1600 ISO I was OK with F 2.8/2.4 on the 60 rather than the 1.4 on the 35, even tho the only ambient light was the harsh street lights and lights from the passing cars. I shot in soft Astia colour for less contrast and then imported the images into Lightroom 4 and changed the photos into B&W. It was interesting that this made the images more under exposed than in colour, tho the original ones were also underexposed as well, as I realized later that the exposure bias had been set to -2, and I had forgotten to change. I had to play with the settings in Lightroom to correct for exposure, contrast, shadows and highlights, and clarity as well as a bit of sharpening and noise correction. I developed a preset of settings which I called "Street Urchin" which I hope will be useful the next time I take street shots at night. Also, I might try to use the B&W settings in camera, tho on the XA1 there is only one B&W setting plus Sepia. I am interested in all comments.

I won't go into specifics as to what occurred, other than to say it was a moment that to me was both magic and tragic, and yet I felt privileged to have captured it. I will let the photos speak for themselves. I had no preconceived notion of what I was looking to photograph other than interesting Bangkok street scenes and an idea of wanting to capture any dramatic moment with my camera. I literally walked into this situation, and didn't ask myself why the little street girl followed me, which she did on her own accord entirely. I did not coerce her in any way by offering her money and she did not ask for any. I now realize that even tho I had maybe over stepped the mark, I did provide a conduit for a brief moment of escape from her miserable existence. It had happened so fast that I was caught up in the magic and it unfolded before I was aware of the consequences, as when she returned to her begging spot and was punished by her minder, an older woman. So, obviously it is clear that I did not get permission from the girl or any others to take the photos, and here is the dilemma. I would like DPR's opinion if they think this situation does indeed merit a wider audience and what are the legal implications of taking these photos? Will the photos incur the wrath of human rights groups or whomever about privacy invasion or underage exploitation- whatever? Here is the old argument of street photography and the legal implications of taking unauthorized photos of strangers.

One last important point, these days as I walk around Bangkok or any city, I see so many people taking photos of themselves and others with abandon. And they don't seem to care if I or others take a snap of them as we walk by. We seem to have entered an age where the taking of pictures in public has reached the stage of ubiquity, and legal implications and invasions of privacy are thrown out the window. At the moment Thailand is in an uproar, and rightly so IMO, about the disgusting video taken by members of an English premier football team on tour in Bangkok photographing their orgy with Thai females and then posting it on social media. I suggest that my photos should in no way be compared to such as these, tho there may be some that would do so. Any opinions are appreciated, but please try to be constructive in your criticisms.

These photos should be in reversed order. Not sure how to do this.

Nice work

Looks like the same person I took a pic of a few years ago in Bangkok - but a bit older in your pic. I wonder if by some strange coincidence it was.

Peter Bendheim wrote:

Nice work

Looks like the same person I took a pic of a few years ago in Bangkok - but a bit older in your pic. I wonder if by some strange coincidence it was.

Nice shot. You could be right, tho a lot of these street people look similar. Did you notice if she had a tooth missing by any chance?

Any thoughts on the ethical issue of street photography? Or again about the exploitation of these young people used for begging by gangs?

She'd have your wallet as soon as look at you.

cafegemmayze wrote:

EOS Paul wrote:

She'd have your wallet as soon as look at you.

And the real urchin reveals himself...

I have lived and worked in Thailand for over 30 years and speak and read the Thai language well, as well as some Lao- write only a little as it's very difficult. So I know the culture pretty well. And having spent enough time here, I can tell you that the street people tend to have a certain look, in fact, are dressed to give them that "poor" urchin-like persona so rich foreign tourists will sympathize and give them money. Also, I disagree with the above statement re the wallet. She made absolutely no attempt to get close enough to try and grab my wallet. The young Bangkok street people are amazingly unassertive, not like in other SE Asian countries, in particular Vietnam where  one little kid came right up to me and grabbed a pen out of my shirt pocket. In some tourist areas in Thailand- parts of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket, there are some street people that can be aggressive, tho generally they are the "katoeys"- lady boys. The younger ones are much less so. These above comments are typical of those foreigners who know little of Thai culture and show the ignorance that many foreigners have about what goes on in Thailand.

cafegemmayze wrote:

KKJohn wrote:

cafegemmayze wrote:

EOS Paul wrote:

She'd have your wallet as soon as look at you.

And the real urchin reveals himself...

I have lived and worked in Thailand for over 30 years and speak and read the Thai language well, as well as some Lao- write only a little as it's very difficult. So I know the culture pretty well. And having spent enough time here, I can tell you that the street people tend to have a certain look, in fact, are dressed to give them that "poor" urchin-like persona so rich foreign tourists will sympathize and give them money. Also, I disagree with the above statement re the wallet. She made absolutely no attempt to get close enough to try and grab my wallet. The young Bangkok street people are amazingly unassertive, not like in other SE Asian countries, in particular Vietnam where one little kid came right up to me and grabbed a pen out of my shirt pocket. In some tourist areas in Thailand- parts of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket, there are some street people that can be aggressive, tho generally they are the "katoeys"- lady boys. The younger ones are much less so. These above comments are typical of those foreigners who know little of Thai culture and show the ignorance that many foreigners have about what goes on in Thailand.

So you have no comment on your use of language here? Frankly, your assertion that they have a 'certain look' is still pointless. So do bobos in Paris or- indeed- western expats in Thailand. There's always a certain type and way of dressing. But only the poor are assumed to look so same-same that you can't distinguish them because nobody spends time looking at them, everyone prefers to look away. That was my point: your photography should be giving human faces, not dehumanizing. You're use, again, of 'urchin' makes clear that this will never happen.

Sad.

I wanted constructive criticism, not a rant about my use of language. This will be my LAST post to DPR

KKJohn wrote:

cafegemmayze wrote:

KKJohn wrote:

cafegemmayze wrote:

EOS Paul wrote:

She'd have your wallet as soon as look at you.

And the real urchin reveals himself...

I have lived and worked in Thailand for over 30 years and speak and read the Thai language well, as well as some Lao- write only a little as it's very difficult. So I know the culture pretty well. And having spent enough time here, I can tell you that the street people tend to have a certain look, in fact, are dressed to give them that "poor" urchin-like persona so rich foreign tourists will sympathize and give them money. Also, I disagree with the above statement re the wallet. She made absolutely no attempt to get close enough to try and grab my wallet. The young Bangkok street people are amazingly unassertive, not like in other SE Asian countries, in particular Vietnam where one little kid came right up to me and grabbed a pen out of my shirt pocket. In some tourist areas in Thailand- parts of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket, there are some street people that can be aggressive, tho generally they are the "katoeys"- lady boys. The younger ones are much less so. These above comments are typical of those foreigners who know little of Thai culture and show the ignorance that many foreigners have about what goes on in Thailand.

So you have no comment on your use of language here? Frankly, your assertion that they have a 'certain look' is still pointless. So do bobos in Paris or- indeed- western expats in Thailand. There's always a certain type and way of dressing. But only the poor are assumed to look so same-same that you can't distinguish them because nobody spends time looking at them, everyone prefers to look away. That was my point: your photography should be giving human faces, not dehumanizing. You're use, again, of 'urchin' makes clear that this will never happen.

Sad.

I wanted constructive criticism, not a rant about my use of language. This will be my LAST post to DPR

Try not to be so thin skinned. Ignore the comments you don`t like.