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Comment by igornadj | Hacker News Reader

The difference between a model and a random stranger is night and day. The reason the model gets paid is because they are professional and contribute roughly equally to the process. With [good] street photography, it's almost entirely the story that is told that brings the value, the subject just happens to be living their relatively ordinary life.

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Every time I hear someone talk like you do, I think about this photo:

https://i.imgur.com/1p0GS9R.png

Street photographers are universally terrible people, and people who defend them are defending some of the more mundane scum of the earth.

This is made worse by their worship of people like Mark Cohen, who was an absolute creep: https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/qxmjb4/

Taking photos of homeless people is generally seen an unacceptable amongst street photographers. I think maybe you're focusing on a couple specific people?

It's not just taking pictures of homeless people. Look at what Cohen does in that video, and remember he's one of the most celebrated and beloved street photographers.

Street photography is for hacks. I've known a lot of them, they're never good people.

Mark Cohen is 78 years old. He is not remotely relevant to the scene today. Photogs celebrate the people who came before them like Cohen or Gilden but you just don't see that type of behaviour in the current generation. Same with anything else really, older sports athletes are celebrated and at the same time rightfully criticised, older musicians, celebrities, the list goes on.

It seems you've had some bad experiences, that's a shame. But that's a hell of a broad brush you're painting with there, when there's so much good street out there telling beautiful stories from people we would never have heard from.

FWIW I agree that street photography is by and large not great. I know there are exceptions but mostly people don’t want to be photographed in public by a random stranger.

So you want to use my likeness to make money by selling it while simultaneously telling me that my life is too mundane to bother asking me if this is ok?

Most street photography that becomes popular is centered around people who are in distress. How is that not exploitation?

> Most street photography that becomes popular is centered around people who are in distress

Absolutely not true at all

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