As I have done some more lecturing recently, I have also been asked more direct questions about, for example, ethics and my own rules.
Last weekend, I gave a lecture in Eindhoven and said, "My own rules: I don't photograph homeless people, disabled people or people putting food in their mouths." The thinking is that homeless and disabled people on the street are more vulnerable and putting food in your mouth never makes for a great photo.
From the back of the room, a finger went up. A street photographer in a mobility scooter asked me the question, "Why not disabled people?" I had never thought about it like that before, it was more of a given for me. We used to live opposite a residential facility and I used to take my classmates on a tour for my speaking engagements. But I only realised in Eindhoven how generalised my assumption was. How vulnerable?
Sure, as a disabled person, you can sometimes get into situations where you are needy on the street faster, but the majority of the time there is little going on and you are just someone on the street. Why should I avoid that as a street photographer? It can be interesting to engage the conversation, and casually take a portrait too, just as it is for everyone else. No idea why, with my basically just limited ideas, I made this exception.
It keeps me busy, I notice. As street photographers, don't we simply have, within all ethics and personal boundaries, the objective task of documenting, without judgement or bias? Maybe so, right?
Many of the rules we impose on ourselves stem from a lack of understanding, and perhaps engaging in the conversation is the very best way to discover, limit or stretch your own rules.
In any case, I was extremely grateful for the question. You are never too old to learn about yourself!
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