On the opposing side there are people in fashion who don’t see inspiration of the homeless as exploitation, and rather expressive. Scott Schuman is the owner of influential blog, The Sartorialist, whose photographs gained popularity in fashion and helped with the rise of street style photography. There was a lot of critique when Schuman posted a photo of a homeless man on his blog. In his defence, Schuman said “I don’t’ usually shoot homeless people,” as he doesn’t find them “romantic or appealing” like other street photographers but he gravitated to this particular homeless person because he had not lost his need to “communicate and express himself through style”.
“In my quick shot I had noticed his pale blue boots, what I hadn’t noticed at first were the matching blue socks, blue trimmed gloves, and blue framed glasses. This shot isn’t about fashion — but about someone who, while down on his luck, hasn’t lost his need to communicate and express himself through style” (BlackBook, 2009: online). This is a more innocent way to look at this type of documentation of the homeless. I think it is okay to observe and share, but when homeless people start gaining fame and their lives are being disturbed (like Brother Sharp), I think it does borderline exploitation and harassment.
References: The Satorialist (2009) Not Giving up, NYC. 31st August. [Online] Accessed on 11th Febrary 2019] http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/not-giving-up-nyc/