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02/24/2014 08:05:52 AM · #1
If it hadn't been black & white I'd have picked it for a Martin Parr photograph. That's a good thing because Martin Parr is a whole lot more interesting than Garry Winogrand.

This is really a very funny, savage indictment of a certain prominent wedge of modern western life (I'd say American life, but you'd like my comment even less if I did). The obesity to the point of immobility; the silly, pampered, yapping dogs; the dreadfully tacky sunshades; the truly awful Disney World school of architecture … all wrapped up in a fountain of flaccid-looking bubbles cascading towards a bewildered kid who himself appears to be already on the road to double-wide pants. It's a scarcely credible celebration of gross indulgence and delusion.

Even if you took a kinder view than I, it's still a good street photograph on a superficial level. 9. Thank you.

By ubique I'd say even better than the photo!

Probably the best comment I've ever seen on DPC!

Message edited by author 2014-02-24 08:41:12.
02/24/2014 08:12:57 AM · #2
For my own part, ubique is worth the cost of membership here.

As for the photo, so happy to see one of my tens align with the front page in a street photography challenge.
02/24/2014 08:42:50 AM · #3
I love the comment. When I read it last night I had to shake my head, as it's not that far off from what I had written, but with eloquence and wit.
02/24/2014 09:25:37 AM · #4
Originally posted by bvy:

For my own part, ubique is worth the cost of membership here.

100% agree.
02/24/2014 09:27:37 AM · #5


The judgments, presumptions and condemnation of people based on their looks burns me up.

Which of you know the back story?

These two women may have been school teachers in an urban area for impoverished children, devoting their life times to teaching acceptance, inclusion, tolerance and love. They may have worked 3 jobs other than their teaching positions in order to be able to afford the time after their retirements to sit outside and make bubbles for the neighborhood kids. They may be suffering from particular diseases that have created the swelling in their ankles that render them incapable of walking without great difficulty. Conditions that create constant pain. Conditions they have no control over that create water retention and swelling. They may have met each other sitting in a doctor's office and have decided to support each other in times of need. WAIT! That's not these women. That would have been MY neighbors, who remind of these women. They remind me exactly of the two loving souls who ended their lives as shut ins because they were too frightened to leave their houses to become objects of ridicule and criticism by people like you.

The only indictment I see here is the one that you have all made of your true spirits exposing yourselves for the types of people you are.
02/24/2014 09:30:56 AM · #6
Originally posted by LoVi:

The judgments, presumptions and condemnation of people based on their looks burns me up.

Which of you know the back story?

These two women may have been school teachers in an urban area for impoverished children, devoting their life times to teaching acceptance, inclusion, tolerance and love. They may have worked 3 jobs other than their teaching positions in order to be able to afford the time after their retirements to sit outside and make bubbles for the neighborhood kids. They may be suffering from particular diseases that have created the swelling in their ankles that render them incapable of walking without great difficulty. Conditions that create constant pain. Conditions they have no control over that create water retention and swelling. They may have met each other sitting in a doctor's office and have decided to support each other in times of need. WAIT! That's not these women. That would have been MY neighbors, who remind of these women. They remind me exactly of the two loving souls who ended their lives as shut ins because they were too frightened to leave their houses to become objects of ridicule and criticism by people like you.

The only indictment I see here is the one that you have all made of your true spirits exposing yourselves for the types of people you are.


+1 I would have reported the comment if it was on my photo.

Tim
02/24/2014 09:48:13 AM · #7
i don't know the backstory, and i don't know what the future brings, but that still doesn't stop me from appreciating the commentary provided by Ubique.
We are taking slices of life and putting them up for review and inspection by others. Ubique's comment is dead-on to how much of the world feels about Americans and the attitude of the prevailing voice from the country. Nothing says that Ubique's comments are right or wrong compared to the actual background; but regardless it's his impression from the image and his world-view - that's not Wrong. Not everybody here is willing to be so honest with commentary on images, and Ubique has been burned in the past for providing a thoughtful/honest commentary that was not well received, yet is back again and being honest with us. If you don't like his comment, that's entirely your perogative, but I don't see anything wrong with it, or him expressing it the way he did.

Message edited by author 2014-02-24 09:49:00.
02/24/2014 09:54:42 AM · #8
More America bashing. Whatever, it's tough being on top. ;)
02/24/2014 10:01:19 AM · #9
Originally posted by chazoe:

More America bashing. Whatever, it's tough being on top. ;)

Aww yeah, and that's the prevailing voice. I know you're joking, but some aren't when they say it. I personally feel that whoever wrote the script for the HBO show The Newsroom hit the nail on the head, it's well worth the 4 minutes of your life if you've never seen this, and it's worth the many more minutes you'll think about it later.
Also, sidebar, literally Canada is on top of the US. just sayin'. ;)
Newsroom clip on America

Message edited by author 2014-02-24 10:02:15.
02/24/2014 10:12:20 AM · #10
Ubique looks at this photo and sees and feels certain things because of what and who he is, somebody else looks at this photo and sees and feels entirely different things. Photography is great because we all interact differently with a given moment, these two women, the kid, Ubique, different realities, same world, life. I really enjoyed his comment, is it reality ? Yes it's his.
02/24/2014 10:36:06 AM · #11
What I would have enjoyed would be the invitation to participate in blowing bubbles with these two women.

Look at their expressions...... The woman holding the dog looks as though she needs comfort and is turning her head away from the situation. The woman joyful enough to wear a heart shaped headband seems to be scolding the other because she probably said something like, "I told you we should have stayed inside....look at that man taking our picture."

You can all comment as you please....

There is no "right" or "wrong"....

But I'm certainly entitled to my comments also.
And I'm quite certain that if people are willing to comment as they have, my reaction will not deter anyone and it shouldn't.

Viva la difference!
02/24/2014 11:22:18 AM · #12
Originally posted by LoVi:

You can all comment as you please....
There is no "right" or "wrong"....But I'm certainly entitled to my comments also.
And I'm quite certain that if people are willing to comment as they have, my reaction will not deter anyone and it shouldn't.

Viva la difference!


This is it exactly! :)
02/24/2014 11:22:52 AM · #13
terrible comment. you should never mock dogs who have the courage to look silly in public.
02/24/2014 11:24:07 AM · #14
Let's bear in mind that Ubique DID acknowledge, in his comment, that one might take a kinder view than he did :-) Both Ubique and Lovi are expressing valid and spirited responses to the image; that they are at opposite ends of the spectrum rather illustrates how evocative the age is, don't you think?
02/24/2014 11:34:05 AM · #15
Originally posted by skewsme:

terrible comment. you should never mock dogs who have the courage to look silly in public.

I was told it was OK to mock mock dogs.
02/24/2014 11:35:37 AM · #16
Originally posted by bohemka:

Originally posted by skewsme:

terrible comment. you should never mock dogs who have the courage to look silly in public.
I was told it was OK to mock mock dogs.

it's only ok for turtles, and turtlenecks
02/24/2014 11:59:40 AM · #17
It's with a profound sense of joy and humbleness that I read this comment and this thread.

How wonderful it is to be so perfect to be able to look at people with derision because of their issues. I was beginning to think that the world was learning to judge people on things other than looks. How nice it is to know that I can be condescending and judgmental all I want. People from trailer homes can all be white trash. I can mock people with physical issues. I can go with all the stereotypes that we've worked so incredibly hard at all these years!!

How wonderful!!

Of course I felt a little bad that someone, whom I thought was better than that, would have looked at my mother with complete and total contempt. She was overweight, and as she got older, she was working on being able to do something about it, but she had a huge problem from when she was young that her legs would swell up to huge sizes. And yet there was nothing she could do about it. It was a physical thing. After walking and getting in much better shape, her legs got so heavy with the fluids that she didn't have the strength to walk, and used a scooter at times. (Oh, the broken ankle was a problem, too).

Oh -- and as a children's writer, she had a visor somewhat similar to that. My daughter bought it for her when she was 4, and so my mom wore it to please my daughter. And, she had a sense of humor and love, so she probably enjoyed it too. What a wonderful thing to make fun of. The child should have bought her grandmother something way more sensible. A pair of compression pantyhose, perhaps. Oh -- and my mom got my children one of those big bubble wands, too. She should have stuck with something that could make perfect round bubbles instead of the fun, bigger flaccid ones.

Ubique would have loved to make fun of my mom -- a loving woman who devoted herself to her family, her community, her church, her parents, her in-laws who were not particularly worth devoting to.

How exciting that I can be that horrid person on the radio this morning that said that there were homosexual victims. And when the radio announcer asked what she meant by that, she responded that there are people that want to go to college so badly, and the gay groups are giving money to people who say they're gay, the poor kids are pretending their gay so they can get tuition. So they're homosexual victims.

It's ok to laugh at anyone who's down, because it's their own fault. And we're better than they are, because we don't have that problem.

Oh, how wonderful it is to be in this world

Message edited by author 2014-02-24 18:14:10.
02/24/2014 12:26:19 PM · #18
Crikey. I've been told how I should vote in the past, but now it's how I should comment as well.

Let's straighten this out. This was a street photography challenge. Street photography is not at all like the mawkish and passive photography that is more generally appreciated here. Street photography, including that of the subject of this challenge, and also of many other revered street figures, is very often confrontational. It's subjective social commentary, and it's seldom kind, soft or balanced. If it is, it's usually of little consequence. Street photographers are separated from the despised paparazzi only by a very thin cloak of self-conferred artistic respectability. In reality, street photographers (and I am one) are really just muggers with cameras.

I wouldn't make a similar kind of comment on another type of challenge, because that certainly would be out of place. But meaningful comments on street photography can't ignore one of the central motivational threads of the genre (i.e. social commentary), unless all we're doing is just playing at being street photographers. Which, of course, is what most of us would evidently prefer.
02/24/2014 12:32:25 PM · #19
Ubique didn't TAKE the picture... Why are we picking on him and not on LevT, who singled these women out for our attention? Just because we've all of us known wonderful men and women who happened to be obese doesn't one whit lower the image's impact as a piece of social observation and/or commentary.
02/24/2014 12:33:41 PM · #20
Social commentary is how you see it and what you take out of it. It says something of how you see the world. The commentary says more about the commentor as a person than about the photograph at times.

You can comment how you want.

I found it sad that this is how you see the world. There are enough people that see it that way -- the worth of a person is based upon their looks/abilities.

I saw a photo of someone out with a friend probably playing with a grandchild. I saw grownups probably trying to be silly with the grandchild. Is it voyeuristic because of the weight and circumstances? Yes. But I don't see it as condemning, just more sad that the experiences are limited because of it. Condemning a whole nation, portion of the world, is an interesting comment and rather holier than thou.
02/24/2014 12:35:46 PM · #21
If I see a picture of a down syndrome child, and I make a negative comment on it, is the photographer responsible or the person making the comment?

02/24/2014 12:36:09 PM · #22
Nobody is telling anyone how they should comment. The thread asks a question on "how good is the comment" which is an open invitation to state if you think it is a good comment or not. This thread is about the comment on the image....not the image itself.

She asked a question and several have answered it......some much more lengthy than others.

Message edited by author 2014-02-24 17:34:39.
02/24/2014 12:36:21 PM · #23
Great photo. Great comment and interpretation. Good thread.

(Now I am off to the gym!!)
02/24/2014 12:38:33 PM · #24
I'm one who has always been on ubique's side on the let's pick on ubique sessions.

This one, I'm just disappointed. I thought he was better than that and didn't give in to stereotypes and didn't judge without knowing.

That's why I bothered.

Too many people don't stand up for what they believe in when other people are being put down. I'm not going to be one of them.

02/24/2014 12:41:06 PM · #25
Originally posted by njsabs:

Nobody is telling anyone how they should comment. The thread asks a question on "how good is the comment" which is an open invitation to state if you think it is a good comment or not. This thread is about the comment on the image....not the image itself.

That's a good point. I stand corrected to that extent.
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