The Courthouse Exchange is a restaurant. It's in the basement of an old building across the street from the Eastern Jackson County courthouse in the center of the Independence (Missouri) square. Jackson County, Missouri has two courthouses--one in Independence, the first one, and one in downtown Kansas City. That one was built as part of a county "Ten Year Plan" initiated by then Presiding Judge of Jackson County Harry S Truman. Because Harry is from Independence, of course, the courthouse in Independence is known as the Truman Courthouse.
I installed a few telephone lines, here and there, inside that courthouse. In a building that old, all the wiring sort of "evolves" and so finding lines, or places to run new lines, is a bit of a challenge. When President Clinton and Vice-President Gore and their wives made an appearance in Independence in 1994, Clinton gave a speech from the Truman Courthouse steps. In the week prior, I installed dozens of phone lines for the teams that support such visits, including scrambled telephone lines for the Secret Service. These were temporary, meant to serve their purpose for only a part of one day, and so duct tape was involved. The primary goal was to get all the lines and phone jacks in place and on time. I did.
So the Courthouse Exchange is across the street, in the basement, as I said, serving mostly government workers and lawyers during the lunch rush. Being retired, when I go to lunch, I usually go late to avoid such rushes--its a perk of being an old fart. In fact, that's what I'm going to do today, as soon as I finish this, only I'm going downtown to Johnny C's deli for some spaghetti.
Below is a picture I took of the inside of the Courthouse Exchange. I actually didn't mean for the two ladies to be in the shot because I'm sort of opposed to so-called "street photography" where sneaky pictures of people seem just a little creepy, but in this case I liked the red dress, and since we can't tell who they are, I left them in.
So now I'm going to lunch. Have a good one. -Roy
Cool. I'm with ya on strangers in my pics, which is why I've quit taking beach pics on my walks lately. I don't want people I don't know in my photos!
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ReplyDeleteReally a lovely photograph, Roy. It has a very painterly quality and, yeah, the people are an important part of the narrative. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about photos with people in them. I see some "street photography" where it seems like the photographer has imposed himself or herself on the subject--shots where the person IS the subject, rather than a person who happens to be standing inside a photo-worthy scene, and at least in some cases it seems like an invasion of privacy. It's those I cringe a little at. I guess it might have to do with the nature of the picture.
ReplyDeleteI know there are some street photographers who almost seem to go for that shock value, where the subject looks startled or annoyed, and that's what I mean.
I have a friend who likes to take pictures of people, and he does a pretty good job. He talks to the subject first, maybe just to chat, with the idea that he's going to ask them if he can take a picture of them. Usually, he says, they agree. So, these pictures are posed, but very, very informally, and the resultant pic is nice.
Personally, I wind up with boring pictures with no people, because I'm too hesitant to talk to people and ask if they mind if I take their picture, and otherwise probably not aggressive enough.
All that said, a picture of a scene like a street or a market place with lots of people in it--sure no problem. I'm objecting to stuff like women alone walking down a sidewalk in the rain--very dramatic but I'm sure they would be creeped out to notice me standing in the shadows pointing my camera at them.
I think it's a matter of courtesy and very situational.
Yeah. Street photography is hard and, like you, I'm not much into asking people first, and when I have it generally ruins the shot because then they pose. That said, taking photo of strangers on the street is not legally an "invasion of privacy". The street is public. I also keep that in mind when I'm out and about but definitely, I don't want to walk away with a photo that I feel like a creep for taking. I gotta live with myself.
ReplyDeleteLike Bob Dylan wrote in It's All Over Now, Baby Blue . . .
"The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence"
Asha, I think your take on this is the correct one. (As I waffle back and forth as usual.) The difference is the sensibility of the photographer. I see lots of street photography that looks invasive and, not to overuse the word, creepy. I don't see that in your pictures.
ReplyDeleteThere is one guy out there who actually uses flash, and he gets pictures of people who look startled. This of course is more than a lack of common sense, but that's another thing--common sense.
I would think if I was a pro photographer (not even close) and worked for a well known outfit, I would enjoy walking up to people and identifying myself and asking for a shot.I think the posed shots of "strangers" that I do see are nice whatever they are featuring, it is really the subject who is showing me--for good or aught, and the photographer is documenting it. That's kind of cool.
And I confess if someone took a flash photo of me at night, close up, my first visceral reaction would be something similar to one of Frank Sinatra's body guards.