Imagine being homeless. Living most days, not really looking your best, because you have more immediate concerns. “Don’t worry about it,” you tell yourself, “it’s temporary.”
Then someone sticks a camera in your face.
I was actually reading an article the other day about chefs banning picture taking in their restaurant. The disturbing of other guests was given as one reason, but another was definitely listed. Proprietors of restaurants want control of their own public image. They don’t want to be forever represented online by a crappy cellphone picture, taken by a rank amateur, in bad light with shoddy equipment. They work too hard to make meals look appetizing to want someone ruining it in one click of a button.
Now imagine you are on your way off the streets. You just got a call for an interview for a decent job. You get all cleaned up, your resume is ready to go. Your sparkling new suit is set for your first day, and you show up and someone is telling you “there was a problem” or some similarly vague (HR departments are notoriously vague about such things) excuse why you suddenly didn’t get the job.
We are fast approaching facial recognition software that will be able to crawl the web for every picture of a person that has ever been taken. Facebook is already capable of automatically tagging people, and notoriously bad at letting people UNDO this action from pictures they don’t want representing them. Bad light, bad hair day, the most difficult parts of your life? Doesn’t matter, it’s all getting splattered in front of potential social contacts, employers, romantic interests, etc. and once it hits the internet it’s a practical impossibility for it to ever disappear.
Creating one more hurdle for people to jump when trying to get off the streets is not helping anyone. I’ve personally had photographers try to get right up in my face without any kind of permission. The most brazen jerkwad actually held his iPhone four inches from my face as I told him I didn’t want to be on his youtube account. Another identified himself as a cop, “Hey buddy get up! Park’s closed.” When I looked up in confusion, trying to figure out what he was talking about he snapped a picture.
There are plenty of things to take a picture of without sticking it in someone’s face. If you really want their picture, ask.
Otherwise
wheresthefuckingcocaine 