Proud to be a Street Photographer

I am a "street" photographer. There I said it and meant it. lol....In the past my dear fellow Fine Art photographers here on FAA (most not all) would jump all over me for daring to take candid images of not so perfect people in the not so perfect public domain.

How many times have the "purists" dumped on me for not asking permission (of a candid portrait???). For not chatting up my newly found friends milling about the streets (in Chicago the murder capital of America???)...My momma did not raise a fool for a son. Well maybe she did but not in terms of street photography which I have been doing off and on for the past 30 years.

Then we have the "purists" who say by taking pics of the homeless, the poor, the really dumb that I am exploiting their misfortune. This puzzles me (as much does). If I take pics of rich people sunbathing on their yachts am I exploiting the rich for their good fortune?

Ladies and gents of the jury, for your info I grew up poor, really poor. One Christmas I received a red apple for my present. Upon graduating high school (a major accomplishment for my family) my parents gave me a pack of cigarettes and the following advice..."Son, you need to get a job now, maybe you could be a janitor somewhere."

Back to my good fortune...After serving in the US Army for 4 years, I landed a job with the Federal Gov. By sheer luck, I was given the job of photographer for a large Fed company serving the railroad community. I earned half a million dollars as a photographer before I changed jobs. Then I married one of the top executives (woman) at my place of work.

What has this to do with my being a photographer, a "street" photographer. I don't need to earn money with my photographs. I don't need to hear folks not educated in the History of Photography tell me what an awful person I am because I take "candid" images of people in the street.

I don't want anyone here to see my "street" candid images. Most of you are not worthy...So on FAA I present my animal and bird images. My street images are on Flickr where there are thousands of other like minded street photographers who I can call "friend."