Victim Of "street Mockery" Turns The Tables And Points The Camera Back At Em

to serve & protect

didnt know they went into politics ...

thing is, i think there are more images of catching someone looking at her in mid glance. then people staring with a disgusted awe, that she kept repeating over and over. while that cop one is an odd one out. a guy posing behind her looking down, in mid smile, may not be laughing at her, but about to smile. and the same goes for the rest. while people may be looking over in her direction, they may be looking a the two headed dog next to her. or looking across the street to see if they can go. and the girl patting her belly, may simply be doing that.

meanwhile, while she is getting her revenge, she is placing them in a poor light, and she could get in trouble if she makes them into a series. i may glance at someone passing, that doesn't mean i'm grossed out by that person. and in fact, she's looking at her phone in the middle of the sidewalk, - that bugs people all in itself. if she really wanted to get a fair representation, she should have the same set up but with a thinner person to see if she gets the same results.


---Mike Savad

If you have never been obese you will never understand how bold people when it comes to obesity. This is not 'revenge'. Its awareness and to bring to light what sufferers have been going through for a very long time. People are mean, plain and simple, but this is encouraging to those who go through it as to not feel alone.

possibly, but without seeing the frame of reference, like a video of the making of these images, i can't only assume they are picking the shots out of the hundreds they took, and are making the people look bad around her. like you could be pointing at a car, but cropped in the right way, it will look like its at her. she heard the guys making fun of her, but maybe the laughing was - they like that look. and her own view of her body, put herself down. i didn't hear anything in her story that said that someone came up to her and said she was over weight. just that she "sees" people doing it and she "hears" people in the background.

---Mike Savad

Honestly, I think it is revenge in her case. While I feel very bad for her that she feels she is the target of mockery, you have good points, Mike.

Obesity is not normal, especially in Europe. If you read the article, she has given up trying to do anything about it, citing her illness. I have the same illness, and I am not obese because I work very hard at keeping my weight down. My guess is that no one will be buying it.

I agree with Philip and Mike.

In one shot it appears to be a 13 year old smacking her stomach. Kids make a lot of random stupid noises out of nervousness and just the need to be noticed. Just because the girl has her head half turned toward Ms. Morris-Cafiero doesn't mean she's directing the action at her.

The cop doesn't appear to making fun of her weight, just being goofy. I'm not seeing the connection of making fun of her.

In the Times Square shot the woman could be looking and smiling at anything. Most likely she's amused by the "tourist" with the camera. I get those looks a LOT when I'm shooting in big cities!

Melissa, don't assume people don't understand. When I was in my 20s I put on a lot of weight. I mean a lot. I lost most of it in my early 30s. So I understand what it's like. I also understand people in general and that most of what's in those photos cannot be accurately interpreted as being malicious. What I can say is that people can make themselves a target. Ms. Morris-Cafiero is doing everything she can to look heavier and dumpier than she really is. In other words, she's baiting people so she can get these photos. She even talks about the "Henri Cartier-Bresson moment", which is clearly what she's really after.

She obviously has issues with the change in her body and that's fine-I put on over 60 lbs from 7 years ago and am working hard to get at least some of it off. But she has a depression that is painfully obvious in what is shown in that blog. She does nothing to make herself pretty-frumpy hair, no makeup, ill fitting clothing, slouching.
As for her hyperthroidism, my sister has it, is a dancer and looks fabulous. This woman is excusing her appearance, not working on it. The weight will not help her get better, either-she must work twice as hard to get it under control but instead, she seems to have given up and then blames everyone else under the guise of discrimination. I've seen much larger women who at least try to improve their appearance.

I don't see a single direct reaction to her presence except the cop, who maybe just wanted to make that miserable looking woman feel better.

plus they are waiting for the light to change. one lady is looking down the street, the girl might be looking at the ice cream, but i don't think there is a connection between it other than, she put her eyes there. otherwise they are all crossing the street. oddly the guy in the background has the same pose she usually has with a phone.




---Mike Savad

i think if you take enough stills of something, anyone can find anything if they look hard enough. conspiracy, aliens, matrix clones, etc. the fact she had to weave through images until she found something in the cluster is a bit odd.

http://haleymorriscafiero.com/

if you look at her site, you'll see she's standing in some strange ways, just to get a picture of her and people. many of the images, don't have any interaction at all. a few of them looked forced. streaming through the images, it almost makes me want to look up ghost images. where the little dust ball is a ghost. and if you catch it in the right light it could sort of look like that. i think if anyone posed in the middle of a sidewalk, or bent over to tie a shoe, they would be looked at, or even glanced at at least once.

its kind of a funny series of snap shots, she could do that all alone without assuming they are all staring at her. there were images of people looking in a totally different direction. but labeled wait watchers.

---Mike Savad

Thanks for the link Mike. Yes, she's definitely reading into people's expressions something that isn't there. And definitely some baiting going on.

"The cop doesn't appear to making fun of her weight, just being goofy. I'm not seeing the connection of making fun of her. "

its not at all about the weight, its about representing a system, and failure of trust and belief in this system by, obvisouly, not beeing able to represent it in a serious way


im sure with such a picture here in germany, that would lead to a bigger political discussion and that goofhead would get disciplined or even thrown out of duty

Did you ever see a beautiful woman who was "overweight" ?

A beautiful woman who laughs & has fun, dresses nice - and does her hair and make-up because she likes to feel pretty.
Yeah, they do that too.

If you want to keep people at bay - you will be frumpy & grumpy. When you want to interact & engage with the world - you will be friendly & smile.

Geeesh.... she's NOT that much overweight that she is out of the norm for heavier people.

I am sorry that she has a medical condition that makes her feel miserable. It does not mean other people are to blame.
And for those that do make fun of her - they make fun of other people for different reasons.

In the meantime... what she is more than likely doing - is picking on a teenager who is just unconsciously acting goofy because they can't stand still . & blogging about it.
That's rather cruel .

i've seen people that were far off worse than her. i saw one lady that looked like a horse. from the waist down. the top half was thin, i don't know how she did that. most people try not to look or stare, they will glance for a second. unless they are a juvenile, then they will stare. the thought that she has to take 100's of images to get that one, shows that either her student doesn't know how to use a camera, or she's hunting for the collection. one image shows a large black lady in there, and they are about the same size, yet she glanced, so she fell victim to the series.

i think if anyone suddenly stops to pose on a sidewalk, with nothing in the background, i would make a face too. and if i saw some totally out of place person, looking sad, or mad, or whatever, all alone on a swing - i would stare as well, but more of a creepy stare if anything. i almost feel like adding my 2 cents, but then i'll probably end up a victim as well. it makes me feel like one of those lifetime network shows. where the girl gets dumped, so she grabs another guy, just to dump him, to show what it feels like. it makes little sense.

---Mike Savad

Stanislav, I'm sorry to hear that people in Germany are so uptight. Cops are people. They have families, raise kids, own homes, pay bills, just like the rest of us. I find it refreshing that a couple of beat cops are interacting with the people and enjoying it. The only pictures of cops you usually see in the US are with serious looks on thier faces, or in the news when they are beating on a suspect

the cop doing that might be trying for a photobomb than anything else.


---Mike Savad

A lot of people stare at me when I dress as Batman on the beach.

you should get a series of that - that would be funny. don't know how sell worthy, but funny anyway.

---Mike Savad

well chuck you are wrong

cops arent people when they are in uniforms, they represent the state, they have their time off and they can be micky mouse or even goofy himself, im really surpised with your view on things.

having the power of the uniform, doesnt allow em to act like in that 1st picture. but then again i have to think of homer simspon "its only a fraud when you get caught" ... tells me too much about distorted views .. let me guess you werent in europe, bc its not just germany that knows serious employes of the state ...

and you really pay taxmoney to fund those individuals, id be ashamed :)

No Stanislav, I'm not wrong. I just have a different view point. We live in different places with different mores. Being goofy isn't fraud. It's human. Fraud is when they are doing crooked things and hiding it. That's shameful.

And you are right, I have not been to Europe. Nor do I desire to go to Europe. There is a lifetime of things to see in the US and I will never even get to see all I want here. Although I would love to visit Austria some day.

My mother had a problem with weight after her first child....me....
My first wife gained some 70 lbs after we were married...

My second wife is thin even at age 65....

I take photographs of obese people at times (I am thin at 72), but I try my best not to mock them in anyway. Just as I do my best not to mock the mental folks I photograph (since I am one of them)....

"As for what the images mean, viewers may interpret the images as they see fit. I’m just trying to start a conversation."

I think its an interesting project. The validity of someone's feelings can be debated but it seems to be striking a cord with a lot of people. One can say that the camera only picks up a split second but then again how long does it take someone to sense they are being mocked behind their backs?

This fairly attractive fat girl has a mental self perception issue. Photographing people in the public and then using these captures to imply disparaging things about their character should cause her to lose her job. This attractive fat girl proves she does not understand privacy as it relates to photographs of the public. There remains the clear presumption of privacy existing EVERYWHERE even after cell phones turned into cameras.

the points:

1. she has to signal a helper to take the shot - so we could conclude that she either thinks something is happening. or she is doing something like making a noise, or something.

2. he helper has to take hundreds of images. which seems a bit unusual, since if it's happening and its as obvious as she says it is, then the helper would only need the 1 image. and that's all. its not like these are keepers.

3. and the fact she needs to send a signal at all means the helper has no idea something happened.

4. she places herself in odd places. bending over blocking a doorway to tie a shoe (though she's pretty flexible). posing smack in the middle of the sidewalk, there was a image of her with a donut on a plate, but it was just a little girl staring at her.


i can only assume she thinks that every chuckle, laugh etc are pointed at her and her alone. ideally she's setting herself up to be more miserable, even if she thinks she's getting revenge.

---Mike Savad

Very funny! ------------------> "A lot of people stare at me when I dress as Batman on the beach.'

I get the same reaction when I don't dress at all on the beach.

Floyd - please, the horrid image is seared into my brain.

Mike - I do agree, some of the reaction must be from people wondering why someone stopped dead in the middle of the walkway.

It is my personal belief that no one can insult you.
People can be rude, and they can be poorly behaved - but that is a reflection upon them. You don't - have to own it.

I recall an episode that Oprah once ran. They placed a make-up scar on the models face & sent them out on interviews to see how people would treat them.
Each person reported back different reactions of how they perceived people treated them. Some were kind, some were rude - some stared - & others tried to avoid looking at the scar.

What the interviewees didn't know was - that upon doing make up touch ups - the scar was removed.

We bear our own discriminations.

if you have a bad hair day you think everyone is making fun of you, pointing, laughing etc.

if you have a good hair day you think those same people are jealous of your hair, pointing and saying ooh, and so on. everyone has their own ideas of who is looking. as for me, i don't even notice people. to the point that i don't see people in my flash backs just empty locations.

---Mike Savad

Man your brutal Mike!! LMBO! Her expression is one that is common of the pictures of corpses I have seen.


http://www.pinterest.com/pin/273734483572873727/

There is a bit of performance art to this. It would be interesting to see a documentary along with the stills.

Like the shot of her staring at the doughnut. Hard to say if it is a split second or if she sat there for minutes, staring at the doughnut. Like someone trying to be good but unable to control their addiction to sugar.

I don't think she was staring at the doughnut for any length of time. I base this conclusion on the lack of drool at the side of her mouth.

I used to love playing around with peoples perceptions. My favourite was wearing a 3 piece suit under my German army overcoat. The looks on peoples faces when I took the overcoat off was priceless. They expect a survivalist and get a businessman.. Great fun!

If you would like to request more information, please give us a call at 901/678-2216, Fax 901/678-2735 or write to the following address:

The University of Memphis
Department of Art
Room 200 Art & Communication Bldg
Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3088
art@memphis.edu

I would like to request more information; I see from Salon.com {http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/pictures_of_people_who_mock_me/} Haley Morris-Cafiero claimed to be an Assistant Professor and Head of Photography there at the Memphis College of Art. She is currently working on securing exhibitions for the "Wait Watchers" series and publishing a book of the defamatory photographs.

I was not able to find Haley Morris-Cafiero on your website as either staff of faculty.
http://memphis.edu/art/faculty_staff/faculty.php
http://memphis.edu/art/faculty_staff/staff.php
https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=Haley+Morris-Cafiero+site:memphis.edu

These staged photographs violate the common law privacy of the subjects in the background by construing their character as evil or inappropriate reactions to her weight. This creates surprise defamation because people do not expect constant video monitoring.

Does Haley Morris-Cafiero still teach at Memphis College of Art and does Memphis College of Art support faculty who abuse photography in this manner and yet call it art. This alleged art is not far from revenge pornography.

Please let me know if Haley Morris-Cafiero is faculty or staff there at Memphis College of Art. I can accept service electronically. Your legal counsel should look into protecting this type misuse of your college whether Haley Morris-Cafiero represents Memphis College of Art or does not.

Sincerely,
Curtis Neeley Jr

Different school I think.

http://mca.edu/haley-morris-cafiero/

this is her gallery opening - why she gets the credit for someone else's picture is beyond me, but at the end, you see the movie of the making of, and yeah, she stands totally motionless for a spell



this her talking about the mocking and stuff (though i didn't finish watching it all)

this all happened about 2 years ago or so, but i still do see it coming back to haunt her.


---Mike Savad

I agree with Mr. Fielding...
She is doing performance art and getting herself noticed for whatever reason.
As far as people suing her, I doubt it. Suing someone takes time and money and this woman has nothing to give them even if she loses.

She is onto something in a perverted way....Fat ugly people are frowned upon in our oh so pretty world...It's just that with our bad diet habits, so many men/women are now obese.
I think she is quite skilful in her performance if that's worth anything.

Maybe SNL will hire her.

she's a reverse exhibitionist.

but people sue all the time. it all depends if they think they can get something from it, they think going in that she will pay their expenses. more than that though, one of those people might be a mayor, congressmen, lawyer, and if she makes them look bad, then yeah, she could have issues. they will figure out something to take from her, lesser people were sued, the money will often come from some place, even if its to take from the salary she earns.

its best to be careful when shooting people and how they are referred too can make a big difference.

---Mike Savad

I'm with Janine - "People can be rude, and they can be poorly behaved - but that is a reflection upon them. You don't - have to own it."

Others don't define us. We have to answer to ourselves. It seems like she is doing everything she can to avoid her own truth. She's also in serious denial about her health. Not sure how old she is but even if she doesn't have high blood pressure, heart disease, respiratory disease or diabetes now it's just a matter of time. Carrying that much body fat is a killer.

Who paid for her and an assistant to travel to different countries to try to shame people? Did she get a grant? If someone sues and she loses in court they can attach her wages, put a lean on her possessions and make the rest of her miserable life even more miserable.

These staged photographs violate the common law privacy of the subjects in the background by construing their character as evil or inappropriate reactions to her weight. This unannounced performance "art" creates surprise publication and defamation. People do not expect constant video monitoring. Failing to notice a tripod does not constitute agreement to perform and does not waive the need for a model release.

This alleged art is not far from revenge pornography. On her faculty page it is noted as follows.

--- Sometimes the work deals with the reactions of people and objects to her inability to control the size of her external body. ---

Reactions of people to her body mass it a "flowered" way to say she is fat and records reactions to her size that she feels are inappropriate and that she believes would embarrass when made public.

This use of photography is malicious and this use of photography by a professor harms the reputation of the school and should prevent donations to the school. Does mca.edu intend to teach this immoral use of photography to other artists or visitors to the website?
http://mca.edu/haley-morris-cafiero/

Please respond in writing and help me understand how MCA.edu feels about this public abuse of photography.
I do not intend to sue MCA.edu but can't donate either with the school name being associated with abuse of visual art to cause embarrassment.
--
Sincerely,
Curtis Neeley Jr

Well said, Kathleen. Every time I see this post, it bugs the s--- out of me. Now I see her exhibit is two years old. Why did Salon bring this up now? Let it die out, like it should. She based her entire project on a false premise: "her inability to control the size of her external body." That is not true! Like I said before, I have the exact same illness that she has. It is controlled through proper medical treatment (medication!) and diligence on her part to work with it. Believe me, it's not easy, and it is harder for some than others. But she has given up, and is clearly NOT properly treated -- I recognize the signs. She obviously decided to capitalize on her own laziness to not deal with her issue and use it for art instead. That is dishonest and construed to manipulate the public. Not buying!! Whew, thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

it probably also doesn't help that she hangs out at the bakery, donut store, ice cream shop etc. its nice to know that she can smile though. i wonder if she thought anyone was looking at her and saying those things when she was in her own gallery. i didn't notice her shooting pictures of that and making fun of those people.


---Mike Savad

It just unnerves me that she includes children in her what I call garbage art.

and considering children don't have a real concept at what is "normal" or otherwise, i'm shocked she didn't have dogs staring at her.

---Mike Savad

http://petapixel.com/2013/02/11/woman-photographs-herself-receiving-strange-looks-in-public/ here's another blog, i like the comments on the bottom, and you can see the skeptics in there as well.



here's the best comment of the bunch


So, you’re going about your day as usual and you see a woman who is:
-obese (nothing special)
-not too attractive (still nothing special)
Here’s where it gets tricky:
-she’s making strange expressions
-she’s acting strangely for the place she is (not guaranteed, but likely)
-she has awful body language
-terrible fashion sense
-for some puzzling reason, there’s someone taking her photo while doing the above things
-they’re both likely blocking pedestrian traffic while doing it all

Wouldn’t you be bewildered, too? Just look at the swing photo. Who does that?


http://beautifuldecay.com/2013/02/15/haley-morris-cafieros-photos-of-people-sneering-at-her-weight/ here's another blog same type of comments. 30% pro (supporting her) and the rest say what we are saying.

for the most part the consensus of other people is -- she is a road hazard.

---Mike Savad

http://vimeo.com/29735212

here's a video of behind the scenes of her taking against herself, for the most part she is a statue "looking natural" in a place that no one would fit into.

she calls herself a performance photographer, i think that should say it all. then she waits, and waits, while she looks for people. so in other words she looks for a cluster of people then stands pretty still all of the sudden. then she goes on and starts talking about how people say her images are faked and photoshopped and people are hired to be in it, but you can clearly see in this she is actually having a really hard time finding people to look at her funny.

i could only stand about 3 min of that video, basically in so many words she admits it's staged, and shes using other people for her own gain, blaming them for her "condition" so people will feel bad for her and give her prizes and such, for what is actually some of the bad snap shots of her. ideally a revenge thing would be to take stills from that video with that blank expression, glancing at other people.


---Mike Savad

There is a show on NatGeo called Braingames and last week they did an experiment where they set up a roped off area and had one person just stand there. And he was looked at. Then people got bolder and asked him why he was standing there and he said he was waiting. Well, those people got in the line, not knowing what they were waiting for!

The point is, if you stand on a street staring at something, even if it's just a store window or a sign, people will look to see what you're staring at. They might even stop and look as well.
She set herself up to be looked at then called it "bullying" when she got was she was after. Who's the real bully here?

This project would be more complete if she later interviewed the people in the photographs to find out what they were actually thinking.

"I see in this photo that you appear to be looking at me in disgust. Is that what you were thinking."

"No actually I just stepped into dog poo for the third time and I could not believe it. I never even noticed you until your assistant called me over."


The interview Mike posted doesn't do much to support her position - she say - I don't know what they are thinking but it appears that they are mocking me.

But also the TV titles sensationalize the whole project calling the gawkers bullies. Not sure if she presents the work in a sensational frame work as much as the media does.

she couldn't do that, because they would then have an even more surprised look on their face. if you look at that video you'll see she had a really hard time finding people at all, let alone people that would glance at her.

Haley Morris-Cafiero, Performative Photographer from Rogue Films on Vimeo.

lets see if this will embed the video. i didn't watch all of it, i could only stands so much.


---Mike Savad

i have a feeling that at first she made a few photos - the cop one, and her sitting etc, and it got into that gallery. and then she finally got that rush of "people are nice to me", but she couldn't end it there. so she continues looking for trouble so to speak.

5:45 time in - she's dead to the emotion, and just wants reaction. so it no longer supports her claim of people mocking her. at around 7min you'll see her just standing there like a statue looking at i guess an empty window. so it wouldn't take much for someone to give her the look she now craves.

pretty sad, and i think it will come back to get her at some point.

---Mike Savad

This project would never fly in San Francisco...we're all weird and no one stares because people carry stun guns, mace, handguns, knives etc. You don't want to provoke people. What she was doing is pretty normal for around here.

I welcome such a person as this young lady. She makes me seem normal. So I salute her. After all, in an age of conformity, it is our duty to be different, or something like that, unless you prefer "silence, exile, cunning" as James Joyce once recommended.

Joy, you are so right! I lived in San Francisco for several years, and you get so used to seeing weirdly decked-out people, that she wouldn't have looked like anything more than a common tourist, not garnering a second glance. Louise and others here have said it best. She set herself up then complained about it. Boo.

if you saw the film - she actually mocked the lady in the brides dress. she wanted to photobomb them to get the looks, but made a comment about the girdle being too tight around her. so she isn't any better. i still wonder what she meant by happy accident. where it started with her staring off on those bleachers. i can't imagine why anyone would take a picture of her like that, for any kind of project. unless the project was under the guise of "looking somber in happy locations" - and then she saw the guy in mid sneeze.


---Mike Savad