Gimme some money, man!
Yesterday, the weather was really warm so I decided to spend an afternoon in Asheville, NC. There’s always something to see there. It’s pretty much a “hippy” town. There are even a couple of head shops there were you can buy all manner of bong, er, I mean tobacco humidifiers. 
There are also street musicians on quite a few corners. As I was walking, I noticed this guy. He had just finishing setting up and was blowing a few notes, getting ready for his evening. I stopped to take a couple of shots and then kept walking. As I walked away:
Trumpet man: Hey, man! Aren’t you going to pay me for that?
Me: Pay you for what?
Trumpet man: For taking my picture. You should give me a tip or something.
Me: Nope. I’m not going to pay you for your picture. If I come back and listen to you play, I’d be happy to tip.
Trumpet man: C’mon man. Everybody pays me when they take my picture. The least that you could do is buy my CD. It’s got 10 original songs on it!
Me: If I come back by here, I’ll tip you.
Trumpet man: Man! That’s just wrong!
What else could I say. I’d said my piece. I don’t like to try to be guilted into “tipping”, especially just because I have a camera in my hand. Anyway, an hour or so later, I went back by there, fully intending to sit a spell, take a few more photos in the full dark, and give him a tip if I liked his music, but apparently the corner wasn’t working for him; he’d moved on elsewhere. I could appreciate what he was trying to do but he would have gotten more ground with me had he not said anything. I used to tip musicians in Charleston quite frequently, though they never asked. They’d just smile if I pointed the camera their way.
Oh well, que sera, sera! Do you pay on demand if you take photos of street performers?
Related Posts :
Afterwards It was my last night in San Miguel de Allende. Niels and I were standing atop an ...
This week, I am in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, or SMA. While following Niels Henrikson, o ...
Abuelo y Nieto (Grandfather & Grandson) Today is my last full day in SMA. Quite frankly, I lo ...
Actually, I do put a couple of bucks in the jar before I start. But I like to get right up into their faces and interact with them, so it’s a little more personal. Your encounter probably got a little more personal than you wanted.
Hey, Bob. I wasn’t in his personal space, for sure and I didn’t take it personally. I understood that he was on his ‘hustle’ and trying to make a few bucks and play his music, but I didn’t feel that he was entitled to anything just because he was there and I took a photo.
Hustling is not comfortable to me and if they are in my space it’s even worse. Entitlement is a term that I hear more often and seems to be his life style. He feels he has something special to offer and the world needs to “financially” appreciate it. I would have handled it like you did. In fact I may have walked away sooner than you did. In fact I may have deleted the image in front of him and told him it was poor choice on my part to even take his image.
Monte Stevens recently posted..Just Maybe ….
Exactly, Monte – there seems to be more of an entitlement mindset in many things. I just felt like he was saying: You own me, man – to which I thought: No. I don’t. You didn’t work for me. I didn’t borrow from you. I owe you nothing. As I said, I don’t mind donating to show appreciation and support, but I won’t be coerced/extorted.
There have already been enough photographers having trouble exercising their right to shoot in public. I won’t hide my camera and neither will I pay for the privilege of using it, save for purchasing it!
Yeah, I don’t imagine he is going to get many tips with that kind of attitude.
Mark recently posted..Moving Forward
Well, at least not from me, Mark.
If you’re going to put yourself in the public realm like that, you have to be prepared to have your photo taken. He probably thinks he should be “tipped” if you simply walk by and hear a few notes. To quote: “That’s just wrong!”.
John – Visual Notebook recently posted..Saying Goodbye
I agree. Tipping is to show appreciation, not just because you happen to be standing there!
Hi Paul,
I have seen this before in London. It was on the bridge near Big Ben. A bagpiper was playing and some dude took his picture and walked off. The bagpiper got so furious that he reached in his bagpipe case grabbed a bunch of coins and chucked them at the photographer kid. Hitting him in the back and screamed at him what sounded like thanking him for the tip for taking his photo. That bag piper had a good arm lol – but also UK coins are pretty heavy.
John
John recently posted..Women & Their Shoes
Oh, that would not have been good. There might have been an altercation had he decided to throw some coins at me, especially heavy coins! Not good at all!
Hey, the guy is breathing; he plays a few notes on his trumpet and you don’t think you owe him the courtesy of helping to provide his food and shelter? What a heartless beast you must be.
Demanding someone else’s money is a form of bullying and I am relieved that some people stand up and say “no!” During the last few years we lived in LA, we put up with this and much worse. It helped make it easier to choose retirement and leaving our home of thirty plus years.
Anita Jesse recently posted..Unexpected Goals
Exactly, Anita. I don’t know what I was thinking. I need to make sure that the next time that I go, I have a pocket full of money so that I can distribute the wealth!
What I do, honestly, is I put money in first, then gesture at the performer to ask, silently “can I take your picture?’ If I get a nod, then I feel free to take as many as I’d like. But, I only give money in the first place if I like their performance. What are you shooting these days?
Chris Klug recently posted..You’re shooting what?
Now that sounds like a good policy, Chris. I wouldn’t mind doing it that way, say sitting for a while, enjoying the music, then dropping in some cash, then proceeding to take the photos. At least this way, I feel that I’m paying for the performance, not the permission to take the photo. Though, for my part, I probably wouldn’t ask to take the photo. I’d just do it.
As for what I’m shooting, kind of whatever lands in my hand. I’ve got all manner of camera, including an Olympus OM-D EM-5, which Earl figured out a little while ago. LOL I’ve not said anything about it until now, but I’m enjoying it. Also, still shooting some film on occasion and developing in, of course, my favorite – Rodinal.
I agree, Paul, I wouldn’t pay to take the photo, but I think there should be an exchange there, and if the performance moved me, why not? The reason that I indicate I am about to take their picture is that sometimes that encourages the artist to perform in an even bigger way, which makes for a better image.
When I decided to go for the X-Pro 1, I held an OM-D and took a couple frames. I really didn’t like the picture-taking experience, and it was the exact opposite with the X-Pro 1, it just felt ‘right’ in my hands. I know all about the quality of the files from the OM-D, and they do indeed look great. I’d be curious how Earl figured it out.
Chris Klug recently posted..You’re shooting what?
Earl, when he sees a photo that he likes, likes to snoop around the EXIF data.
Pretty easy to figure out, then.
I’m not surprised that you like the X-Pro 1. It looks more like a rangefinder, which, as we know, is your favorite. I will admit to missing my Leica M6; however, I still have the Olympus 35 LC rangefinder which does quite well when the mood hits me.