The needle and the damage done... (C&C kind of)

Third_Echelon

Not really a set that I would look for C&C on, but I think its more a socio-political reflection (whatever that may be).

Anyway, I live in town and the alley way outside my apartment building is a well beaten path for the local drug addicts. Over the years I've seen a lot of their activity, but last night some guy overdosed and it didn't look good.

I don't know why I took pictures, but I did for some reason. The photo-journalist coming out in me. It was a bit surreal...

Dublin is a great city to live in, but this is definitely one of it's downsides.

Anyway, it was low light and identities etc can't be seen as I used a longer exposure.







The rest of the set on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmnscttirl/sets/72157603211931363/

Rob_T

Very interesting set, wasn't sure I liked it at first but its a compelling set of images. Leaves you with an uncomfortable feeling, but none the less worth capturing. I hope the guy recovered.

challengemaster

Third_Echelon wrote: »

Rob_T wrote: »

Very interesting set, wasn't sure I liked it at first but its a compelling set of images. Leaves you with an uncomfortable feeling, but none the less worth capturing. I hope the guy recovered.

There's a reason there's a police photographer there. He's prob dead. if he was alive, he would have been in hospital by the stage so many gardai got there (or i assume) - the gardai afaik have first aid training...

and if you look through the set, the last pic, he's in a bodybag.(again, i assume)

Psychobiker

Bit morbid lol.

L

beans

RIP

This man deserves nothing less than respect despite of the circumstances of his life or death

thebaz

sorry they don't work for me -- its hard to tell what happened or get a message from photos , and if he is dead , I wouldn't post -- just my opinion, for what its worth.

BanzaiBk

Woah, usually when I look through people's photog threads I don't feel this shocked. Definitly not something I'd post tbh.

Paddy@CIRL

Yer some men to jump the gun, thats a paramedic with a flashlight and hes on a stretcher at the end, notice the straps and the fact body bags arent white ...

A great set of photographs, would like to see them in B&W, think the yellow cast ruins them ...

challengemaster

well, i could be jumping the gun, tbh the images were a bit blurry to tell, i could be wrong. that said, he could well be dead at this stage. OD on heroin isn't normally good...

TJJP

I like them. Lighting and blur is a bit weird for sure, but I reckon it works. B/W would kill the effect me thinks.

templeathea

I understand that people feel squeamish about this kind of subject but pictures like these can often galvanise public opinion and may lead to some positive efforts to deal with the problem. As someone said, the person deserves respect, but more so in life than in (possible) death. Societies that fail to adequately deal with problems of poverty, social exclusion, homelessness, harm reduction and rehabilitation do little good by looking the other way when someone inevitably dies as a result of these issues. For me, I am far more upset at how images like these are sometimes used, than by the images themselves. Whether or not they engender a moment of empathy or one of voyeurism is down to the viewer imo.

Third_Echelon

challengemaster wrote: »

There's a reason there's a police photographer there. He's prob dead. if he was alive, he would have been in hospital by the stage so many gardai got there (or i assume) - the gardai afaik have first aid training...

and if you look through the set, the last pic, he's in a bodybag.(again, i assume)

The light was the paramedics examining him. Not a police photographer. He was on a trolley in the last one. Not a body bag...

BanzaiBk wrote:

Woah, usually when I look through people's photog threads I don't feel this shocked. Definitly not something I'd post tbh.

I don't think I posted it to shock people. I just think its a side of Dublin that a lot of people never see or have that much contact with. I was more interested to hear people's opinions etc on a set of pics of a real-life situation.

templeathea wrote:

I understand that people feel squeamish about this kind of subject but pictures like these can often galvanise public opinion and may lead to some positive efforts to deal with the problem.

That's what I was more trying to get at by posting this. Its not usually the type of pictures that I take, but its always good to let people know what actually happens on our streets.

templeathea wrote:

As someone said, the person deserves respect, but more so in life than in (possible) death. Societies that fail to adequately deal with problems of poverty, social exclusion, homelessness, harm reduction and rehabilitation do little good by looking the other way when someone inevitably dies as a result of these issues. For me, I am far more upset at how images like these are sometimes used, than by the images themselves. Whether or not they engender a moment of empathy or one of voyeurism is down to the viewer imo.

Good post templeathea. I think you summed it up well...

- - - - - - - -

Again, it was a shocking thing to see and I did feel sorry for the guy in question. I see the same faces every day and I just can't begin to imagine the life that these people lead and what actually drove them down this way of living....

We see pictures from Iraq and Afghanistan every day and we are shocked for a few seconds as it is a distant place that we can't really relate to. Its also a bit like those graphic road safety ads with the big crashes etc. It doesn't shock us as we see it so much on tv... But when its on our doorstep and it actually affects your day to day, people's reactions change.

I thought it was just a bit of a different topic for the photography forum as well...

Rojo

fair play for taking and posting them up here! Don't think this subject is touched upon enough...

Ideo

I think its a very topical subject so it's going to draw a lot of criticism from some members, but given the nature of drug use in our country I think the photos are a real and fair representation of drug use in the country (and you <i>shouldn't</i> take them down).

Its photos like these that portray the reality of our society, and something that we all should be made aware of. Too often are only the positives of drug use stated by people that use drugs but I think the photos are a powerful contra to these statements.

Interesting collection though. The off focus of the photos adds to the message I think