I don't think making fun of strangers is a good topic for a blog.

I don't either. Good for you for saying so.

I'm pretty sure I would not want a photo of me posted and have people make judgmental comments about in a public forum just because I ride the T.

Swirrly's observation that this man is comfortable with himself is well taken. Still, I'm not certain he'd be pleased with having people take shots at him. I imagine myself in his situation, reading the comments... nah, not nice.

Recently, we had a post about a boy in a suit with sneakers, about which Adam said in an update:"I took it down because the photographer took down the Flickr photo on which it was based because the whole thing seemed to be getting out of hand." There were a lot of comments about how unfashionable, ridiculous and dorky he was, although Swirrly gave a plausible reason why sneakers would appropriate. I don't recall the details and all the comments have been deleted.

Some of the comments in posts with a photogrph of a person remind me of high school. We were all pretty judgmental in high school. It was funny when it was someone else but not so much when I was the object of their ridicule.

It can be fun to make a snarky comment about someone, especially if we have reason to believe it will never get back to him or her but to mem it's like talking about Paris Hilton or celebrity, its pablum. I'd rather talk about ideas than people. Does the golden rule applies here? I'm tossing out ideas to see if any stick.

but this is truly tasteless and certainly within the realm of bullying... you were supposed to eliiminate this activity...

I don't think making fun of strangers is a good topic for a blog.

That's a good thesis. Go with it.

A discussion about expectations of privacy and the rest is interesting too but I think your orignial comment is the best way to go, and it looks like a lot of people here agree with you on that premise.

Maybe Adam will respond. How about it Adam? When you post peculiar pictures of individuals, how do you know whether the comments will degenerate into bashing or will remain high minded or at least not judgmental or cruel?

Hi everyone. My name is Alex, and I took the above photograph. In all honesty, I was not trying to create such an uproar, but I have read through all of the above comments and wanted to lend my perspective to the discussion.

By taking this photograph, I did not break any laws. My right as a photographer to take pictures in public spaces is one that is protected by the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, and is a freedom that has been held up in a court of law many times over. A very recent case is Nussenzweig v. DiCorcia, which you can read about here: http://bit.ly/2tuWwT The court's perspective is clear. If someone is in a public space such as a city street or on public transportation, there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy. If I were to aim my camera into the window of this person's living room and then post it in a public forum, I would be completely wrong and liable for all legal action taken against me. By riding the train, this man gave me the right to take his photograph. It is also important to note that I do not intend to sell this person's likeness in any way. If that were my intention, I would need a release from this person allowing me to. The distinction here is that this is an editorial photograph, not a commercial one. This point is also addressed in the comments concerning a previous Universal Hub post about the photograph of the man in the suit with sneakers. The person who took the picture made an editorial decision to remove the picture. The legality of the photo was never in question, even if the subject never knew he was being photographed.

I did not take this to ridicule this man as some have stated. In fact I was very impressed with his outfit -- I think he looks fantastic, and is indicative of the area in which I live and commute from. When I posted the photo, I did so with no caption attached to it other than where it was taken. The "If you've got it, flaunt it" title and "a Blue Line rider wearing possibly the biggest belt buckle on the subway" caption came from the editors of Universal Hub. I personally don't think that those are inflammatory words, but that of course is up to each persons interpretation.

I also did not take this on the "qt" or hide the fact that I was taking his photo, as one commenter stated. I took this picture with my camera in plain view of the subject, and as one can see, he either did not care or did not notice. It is my reflection in the window next to the subject, and I am looking down at the LCD on my camera as I trip the shutter. If I aim my camera at a person and they express disapproval or ask me not take to take their picture, I respect their wishes. My goal here was not to harm anyone. I simply wanted to take a photo and share it.