The other day I was down on Broughton Street in Savannah taking photos of people in the streets. There were plenty of them as the Savannah Film Festival was going pedal to the metal…My plan was to try and push myself and become more comfortable taking pictures of people in the streets. Believe it or not, I am actually a pretty shy person. In public I hate attracting attention to myself and I would rather just pass on by with nobody noticing me.  So, I pushed myself to take the photo, even if they noticed me taking it.

I noticed these two guys and their dog sitting in a doorway to an empty store. They were obviously homeless. This is what I am there to take photos of, right? Real life..I thought I got away with taking their photo…until I got home and zoomed in on the photo. I noticed he was looking right at me…I felt like SHIT. I don’t know why…actually I do…As a photographe you are supposed to have a disconnect in these situations. You separate yourself from the scene in front of you and just get the shot. I felt okay about it when I thought he didn’t notice me…as soon as I knew he did, that disconnect fell down and I instantly empathized with this guy…what did he think when he noticed me taking his picture? Did he think, ‘Who is this asshole photographing me when I am obviously down and out?’ I felt horrible as I realized what I may have made him feel. I know if I was in a vulnerable position I wouldn’t want people staring at me, I doubt he did either. The look in his face really got to me. I don’t ever want to make someone feel self-conscious or feel low with my photography, I only want to make people happy.  This may all be in my head, and he probably forgot all about the asshole taking his picture, but I imagine I didn’t make his day better.

I really wish I would have at least gave him a few bucks to make sure he had something to eat…Tomorrow I am heading back down-town to find him and offer to buy him lunch…