(B+W) old man in pain

[ddelallata]

I took this picture of this old man at the hospital today. He came in because he had a bad fall and had hurt his right shoulder. Some of my colleagues took care of his wounds while I snapped this pic. Let me know what you think.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/ddelallata/oldmaninpain.jpg

[ErikW]

You mentioned that your "colleagues" took care of him and you shot pictures. Is that ethical?

[elTwitcho]

It's good and the post processing work on his skin is excellent, but the big blown areas are absolutely not working for me.

[ddelallata]

You mentioned that your "colleagues" took care of him and you shot pictures. Is that ethical?

I said picture, not pictures. I really don't see what is unethical about 5 physicians rotating through orthopedic surgery tending to one patient while the 6th (me) snaps a pic. Besides, I got a verbal OK from the patient to do so.

[othomas]

Im sorry but I find this a disturbingpicture, in a voyouristic way. Just how I feel about it.

[BottomBracket]

It's a powerful picture, surely it will evoke emotions from the viewers. I must ask about the ethical issue here though. Is it ethical to post a picture of one of your patients here? Granted that you may not be his attending physician, still, as an employee of that facility is it ethical?

[ddelallata]

It's a powerful picture, surely it will evoke emotions from the viewers. I must ask about the ethical issue here though. Is it ethical to post a picture of one of your patients here? Granted that you may not be his attending physician, still, as an employee of that facility is it ethical?

I personally find nothing ethically wrong with the picture. The hospital where this was taken at is operated by the federal government in Mexico. It is a teaching facility for medical students, interns and residents. I am often asked to photograph surgical procedures, imaging studies, and other activities at this hospital for the purpose of teaching other medical professionals. This picture really doesn't expose any of the patient's private parts, bodily fluids or organs. I simply took the photograph because this elderly man's face can tell quite a story just by looking at it. He looks like he has worked hard all of his life and now in his later years is having a hard time with the simple things that many others take for granted.

[BullittMan]

You took one picture with his permission, while your other staff members thuroughly took care of him, I too find nothing unethical about taking this picture. I think it is very powerful shot, it evokes a sort of desperate emotion to me. I hope he wasn't hurt too seriously.

[ddelallata]

You took one picture with his permission, while your other staff members thuroughly took care of him, I too find nothing unethical about taking this picture. I think it is very powerful shot, it evokes a sort of desperate emotion to me. I hope he wasn't hurt too seriously.

He was OK. Imaging studies were ordered and no fractures were noted. All that was done was a cleansing of a small cut on his thumb and we immobilized his shoulder with several rolls of ace-bandages. He should be fine in 2 weeks. Thanks to everyone for the comments.

[md_129]

You captured true human emotion here, very compelling!

[ErikW]

Physical pain is compelling? Thank God I don't understand that genre.

[md_129]

Physical pain is compelling? Thank God I don't understand that genre.

It's raw human emotion, not neccessarly pain. You really would not know what this guy is going through with out the description. Thanks for your opinion!!

[ErikW]

I'm not sure what planet you are from but he's clearly in pain, md_ 129. Don't insult my intelligence.

ddelallata cleared it up, he had permission from the gentleman in his photo. Apologies to ddelallata.

[1sdman]

Back to comments on the picture itself...

I wonder what the pic would have been like with more of the hands, I'm just curious since they are cut off in the middle.

I agree the whites are a little overblown, but it seems that if they were less so, the face would be missing something. I like the pic just like it is.

[md_129]

I'm not sure what planet you are from but he's clearly in pain, md_ 129. Don't insult my intelligence.

ddelallata cleared it up, he had permission from the gentleman in his photo. Apologies to ddelallata.
I would never insult your intellgence there big guy, but you must realize that you flamed both me and ddelallata. Photography is all subjective and I don't think it is right for you to pass judgement on how the photo was taken, nor, what comments I may have written.

With that being said why don't we focus on the photo, and please keep your personal opinions about me to yourself.

This is not fair to all of us who come to this forum to share their photos and thoughts.

[ErikW]

md_129, I was in an extremely foul mood yesterday and I allowed myself to take it out on you guys. I offer my sincere apologies to yourself, ddelallata and anyone else who I unfairly insulted. Next time I'm in a bad mood I'll throw used diapers at passing traffic or something. :) :rolleyes:

[daclozer]

Very well said... A good indication of the power of a photo / art is the response it invokes. A few people got fired up over it, therefore I feel the photographers purpose was met. I agree that images of pain and sorrow are very powerful images, who wants to look at a bunch of people smiling all the time. Great shot David, but I agree the blown out areas don't do much for me either. A little burn tool and it is all fixed up. I also don't feel there was anything unethical about it. Keep up the great work !!!

[md_129]

md_129, I was in an extremely foul mood yesterday and I allowed myself to take it out on you guys. I offer my sincere apologies to yourself, ddelallata and anyone else who I unfairly insulted. Next time I'm in a bad mood I'll throw used diapers at passing traffic or something. :) :rolleyes:

Thank you, ErikW. I am also sorry if I offended you. :)

[Rumjungle]

It's a bit disturbing to me as well, but that's what I like about it. I agree with daclozer, the fact that your photo evoked an emotional response says, to me at least, that you did your job. A tad overexposed, but good work.

[dzstudios]

Have to agree that the hands should be either in or out... at present it really detracts from the impact of the very stunning facial detail and emotion.

Cropping JUST above the old man's hand, works perfectly for me. That way, you lose a lot of the 'blown detail' and can crop tigther around the face.

Ethical issue: we snap 'candid' shots in all sorts of location of people in various states of emotion - who knows whether that "tranquil shot" of a person sitting, pondering on a park bench, is perhaps of mourning a terrible loss in silence? Similarly, we see a lot of photographs of 'wrinkled old people' in travel and call it 'quant' - when indeed that person may be suffering poverty/hardship.

Lets not kid ourselves: by virtue of taking candid 'people' photos, we are all taking part in a voyeuristic form of expression: a human need to share and identify with other people, whatever the emotion being portrayed.

[Oliver Dugayo]

I feel pain as the old man in that photo...I was sad but one good thing is that the emotion is their..i love the photo itself..

[ddelallata]

md_129, I was in an extremely foul mood yesterday and I allowed myself to take it out on you guys. I offer my sincere apologies to yourself, ddelallata and anyone else who I unfairly insulted. Next time I'm in a bad mood I'll throw used diapers at passing traffic or something. :) :rolleyes:

Erik, there is no need to apologize. We are all adults here and I am certain that we can all handle these situations in an adult-like fashion. I appreciate your comments and I was more than happy to clarify any doubts that you and any other fellow board members had about the picture.
Others mentioned that some areas are blown-out.... I really couldn't do anything about that because the elderly patient was sorrounded by people wearing white lab coats. I had to work around them until I was finally able to snap this pic. Thanks again to everyone for their comments.

[Alan B]

I really like the shot.I admit the white is very.......well white lol.

I see loads and loads of photographs in mags and papers showing people in pain or showing emotion.So whats the problem about seeing another one in this forum ?.