I made a big stink about this photographer today on facebook, about this. If you read part of the descriptions about one of pictures [of a man selling shoes on the street], this is what he writes:
"He originally was working in harsh sunlight. I asked him, through the guide, if he would mind setting up a few feet away in the shade. This change greatly enhanced the image quality so I could portray the details of the man’s face, in his hand actions and in his shoes."
Really? You asked him to 'move' his 'shop', so you could take a better picture? I just wrote a whole post on how I feel about pictures like this - to keep it short, I feel it's exploitative, opportunistic, and if you are making money as a result of the pictures (directly or indirectly), I feel you need to do something to give back to the person, or the place. Do something (as little as can be done) to make the persons life a little bit better. You can read more about it here.
So, then you may ask, why am I posting this picture? Well, my conscious is clear for two reasons - one of the reasons being that the kid told me to take the picture. This is just outside Ahsan Manjil, where a lot of vendors (mostly kids) sell a lot of stuff. It was pretty crowded, but with my massive dslr, I guess I stood out. He asked me to take the picture, saying that he wanted to make a pose. Then he asked me if he could get the picture. I showed him the picture right away, and he seemed pretty elated. He said he is there every friday, so if I ever came back, to please bring the picture. I felt bad, because I knew there was no way I could get the picture to him, being unprepared as I was, and I was not going back there this visit. I was thinking about it recently when I processed the picture about two weeks ago - it dawned on me that I can send it to my aunt (and I did), who then on my request printed it out and went there to give it the boy. My aunt said that he was ecstatic. I didn't really improve his life by much, but I left him happy, I believe, which is good enough for me. If all these bigshot photographers would do just that much, I would be happy.