Blind Man on the F Train

Even though he didn't know you took this and he wouldn't be able to see it even if he knew it existed, I bet he'd be proud.

its an awesome picture, Bill. he's such an interesting subject.

Bill, I love your portraits, and now your street photography is giving me goose bumps! I was wondering if you were trying to be inconspicuous when you were taking this picture? Its perspective is almost as though you were holding the camera on your lap. It is an unusual composition, but a poignant documentary image of life on the F train.

I'm curious to know what your comfort level is with taking candid shots like this, as opposed to your more typical work with knowing subjects. I've always had to deal with a nagging feeling that I'm being rude when taking shots of random people in public.

I'm not one of those people who can obviously be taking photos of someone else without their knowledge. I definitely prefer a more deliberate portrait. On this occasion I happened to have the camera in my lap (you're right Aussie) and shot a couple of frames.

Then again, there have been tons of photographers who will get in people's faces and into fights about this stuff.. not really my scene.

Hate to be a drag, but don't you think it's unethical to take a picture of a person who's blind without first asking them if they're willing to be photographed? Frankly, I think you should take this picture off your ... ahem ... your 'sight'. I notice that Mary says 'He's such an interesting subject'. hmmmm ... a 'subject', ha? Telling use of language. If you go to braillespace.com you might better understand where I'm coming from .. and going to. cheers. anne

Hi Anne- While I understand your concern, I'd just like to say that I and street photographers for decades have taken pictures of people without them being aware. And the giants of street photography, Paul Strand, Garry Winogrand, Walker Evans and others all had photographs of blind people which are some of their most treasured works. In fact, the first chapter of Geoff Dyer's excellent "The Ongoing Moment" is about this very subject.

That this man is blind wasn't why I took a picture of him. In fact there were photos of other subway people on that roll which I didn't post because they weren't as good photographs. Not sure if this explanation helps at all.

Either way, I respect your opinion. Thanks for posting.