Is she considered a photographer if she didn’t take any of these photos?
I’m not convinced he’s taking the piss because of her weight, however. He’s putting his hat on her head, what in the world does “hat” say about weight? I could quite easily see him taking the piss because he saw the camera. As previously mentioned, he’s the guy making bunny ears to make the photo “funny.” It’s a dick move to pull on a total stranger, but it’s not on the same level of yelling “Hey fattie!”
I seriously didn’t even notice the girl in Gelato until I read the article and learned she was actually the subject of the photo. Ironically, the woman next to the girl is blatantly staring.
Word. Some of them, I had to take clues from the titles because I had no idea what I was supposed to be seeing. For that one, the title didn’t even help. Sunglasses, I just threw up my hands. His mouth is in a completely neutral expression, and his sunglasses are mirrored so we can’t even see where he’s looking! Could it possibly be the same thing she’s pointing her point-and-shoot camera at? Ya think?
I don’t even think the girl is looking at her in that photo. It looks like she’s also looking at the shop display, while walking by.
If she seeks to provide proof that this is happening to her, she’s failed.
But a good photographer can still tell a story with that moment. The fact that so many people here are just not seeing the story she claims is there says something.
I’m obese.
People look/stare at me when I walk down the street, because I’m different from the norm. People look at me longer in the same way they look longer at someone in a wheelchair or someone with a missing limb or someone with a facial disfigurement. It takes the brain a bit longer to process the difference from the norm, hence the ‘stare’.
I don’t necessarily see that as people judging me. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. Frankly, I don’t really give a shit what a stranger thinks of me, maybe that’s an advantage of having been fat all my life so never having experience of being considered ‘attractive’.
You can’t always tell what people are thinking from a look, and most of those photos are that - a person looking at another person.
As an art project, I feel it fails in its objective. I do not think she was able to find enough shots to support her persecution thesis. Most are far too ambiguous; if we need to have the mockery or disgust circled in red crayon, with stars and arrows and a paragraph on the back, then that mockery is in the viewer and not in the subject.
(Armchair psychologist moment - she seems to have a greater issue with her weight and appearance than anyone else in her photos. I hope she can find the confidence in herself to go out without believing anyone is noticing her for any negative reason.)
Sure. This comes up a lot with pro photographers who use assistants, because often it’s the assistant holding the camera and taking the shot. If I decide on an image, arrange the shot, set the exposure, lighting and focus point, it’s not the pressing the button part that’s important.
I mentioned this before, but can anyone explain to me why that hat is hovering in mid-air. The cop’s right arm is not holding it up as far as I can see. I can’t quite figure out what is going on there. Did he toss his hat up in the air or something? The picture to me just looks weird with the hat seemingly just levitating above her head like that.
The cop’s hand is holding it. If you follow the part of her hair back, you can see his wrist. But with the shadow from the hat and the pale background from that building, I can see where you missed it. But it’s definitely the cops hand holding the hat by the back of the brim.
. . . and having an authority figure hold a hat over one’s head is a ancient and venerable Ruritanian symbol for being slothful and/ or gluttonous.
Load of bollocks, it’s an interesting idea but the medium and execution is just awful. Audio recordings of untoward comments or even video clips would have made sense. There shots are far too ambiguous to back up the point the artist is attempting to make.
FWIW, I stopped getting regular comments or abuse because of my weight when I stopped being a teenager. Any adult who negatively comments on your appearance is telling you more about their own problems than yours. I’d say I get a negative comment or gesture maybe once a year on my obesity. Mostly, despite my size, I’m invisible.
Double post.
Three things. 1. “Pig” is a nickname for “cop” 2. That cop holding the hat over his head has a pretty “yipes” expression on his face (that’s what it looks like to me, anyway) 3. The other cop is patting his stomach while looking at her with a distasteful expression.
I grant you 1 is a reach (especially considering that they’re cops), but it’s what came to mind for me regarding what he might mean by putting a cop hat over her head. Or “Jesus, can you imagine *her *being a cop? Har har.” Hopefully I’m not so abnormal that I’m the only one.
I don’t know what the context is here, and like I said, it could be them poking good-natured fun at her or (regarding the cop who’s overweight) at themselves, but at the very least, that’s pretty insensitive. And considering she’s a lot more overweight then he is (and given the expressions on their faces), I doubt that was it.
Maybe they could tell that she was being statue-still and photographed and they were messing with her. But I think that’s still pretty thoughtless and insensitive of them. Cops are supposed to be nice guys who look out for you, not make fun of you. (I admit, I’m hopelessly optimistic and naive.)
I don’t see a cop “patting his stomach.” I see a cop whose hand happens to be in front of him. That being said, I have no idea why the cop with the hat is carrying on like that; he may well be doing a “Cheer up! Look, you’re an honorary member of New York’s Finest!” with a goofy face to make her smile.
Pretty much this. Fatties like me tend to feel over looked and ignored more than derided or stared at most of the time. I do get the chubby chasers hitting on me or the little kid asking me why do I eat so much, but that is rare and I got over it a long time ago. Now that I am pregnant, I get more stares and unsolicited comments about that more than anything.
I am having to now coach my two 5 year olds on how to address people politely and to not judge others by their weight. I tell them that fat, skinny, or otherwise people should be judged by their personality and how they treat others not that size they are. It is a hard lesson to teach when their school mates and society teaches the opposite, but I am trying to at least enforce it at home.
And P.S. if she is a size 14 I will eat that cop’s hat 
I am a size 22 and I dress my size so I don’t tend to look obese. Like I have said before, there is no reason to feel ashamed of your pant size, but there are ways to dress that look put together and nice without lying to yourself about how big you actually are. I recently had to go up several bra sizes* because I was in denial about how big I actually was and it was making my appearance less than stellar. Once I got a properly fitted bra it took pounds off my appearance and gave me more confidence. People sense confidence more than size.
*from a D-DD to an F-GGG :eek:
I think this, but on a meta level, because I’m pretty sure Haley herself is unaware that she’s projecting her own insecurities and paranoia onto the photos she selects.
That’s what it looks like to me: just a doofus goofing around and trying to be funny. I don’t read anything malicious in his expression or actions at all.
And if she was conventionally pretty, many of us would assume he was flirting. Perception is everything. The observer who identifies with the subject and feels harshly judged by others will probably see the worst in the photos, artists and photogs find fault with her methods, skeptics find fault with her premise, etc.
I didn’t see anyone in any of those photos who looked like they were mocking her. In some of them I doubt they were even looking at her but if she’s going to stand around like a zombie with a zombie look on her face someone is likely to be curious.
She’s not even that overweight compared to most people in today’s society.
As far as being a size 14, she could be depending on where she shops. I recently lost weight and went from a size 18 jeans to size 16. I always wear the same jeans so I can go to the store and grab a pair without trying them on. I threw away all my 18 jeans and wanted some more 16 jeans. I accidentally bought 14 jeans and because of a design change they were larger than the 16 jeans I already owned. So, this manufacturer is now making size 14 jeans that are similar to the size 18 jeans from one year ago which are probably the same as size 20 jeans from 10 years ago.
All of us this is totally right. I really think she could benefit from a little introspection into why she, apparently constantly, perceives things this way.
Yeah, you’re reaching.
People make dopey faces for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which is when they’re trying to be funny – which still doesn’t conclusively indicate that he was trying to be funny about her weight.
His hand is not where most people would consider their stomach to be. It’s to the right side and on his lower ribs, not in the center over his abdomen somewhere near his navel. His stomach would be a lot closer to his belt buckle than his chest pocket.
Certainly. The most charitable thing you can say is that this cop decided it would be funny to ruin whatever photo she may have been going for. He IS the guy who makes bunny ears on the nice family photo. But I still maintain that as dickish as “bunny ears” is, it’s not anywhere near as cruel as mocking her weight.
She claims that there is story A depicted in that photo, but I (and many others) see, at best, ambiguity or nothing at all, and at worst, story B. She was not successful in her stated goal.
As for the purported “disgusted looks,” that sort of reminds me of those photos of high divers. Some of those guys look pretty disgusted too. It MUST be because they saw a fat woman at the pool. (Or, because they were concentrating intently on something.) A lot of people in her photos seem to have been caught blinking too. We’ve all seen photos of ourselves blinking. I most often look drunk or stoned, even though I wasn’t. If you caught me mid-blink and/or talking, you could probably interpret a few of those faces as “disgusted” too.
Agreed.
Reply not necessary, I decided. And I was being a little bitchy.