I found Dan Ziv’s card stuck out in the curb grass like a silver condom wrapper reflecting life’s crude ecstasy. On the front of the card was a picture of a man reclining tranquilly on a park bench. On the back it read: “Dan Ziv. Street Photographer. High Class Bum.”
What does being a street photographer mean to you?
I’ve always had this fear I will one day become homeless as a starving artist. So I wanted to shed light on poverty, homelessness, and the street, and bring glory to it. I’m not trying to exploit homeless people when I take their pictures; I’m trying to give them voice through image.
What inspired you to be the “High Class Bum”?
My mom said, “You look like a bum.” And my family has always said the same thing. So I ended up telling them, “I’m a bum. But I’m high class.” That started to become my persona. I treat people with respect. But I don’t dress up for people, I don’t care what others think, and some people see that as being bummish.
Has there ever been difficulty in capturing your subject?
It’s awkward to approach somebody with a camera when they appear as if they are in a dire situation. I always give them money. I’m never going to take a picture of somebody who’s in need of something and not offer anything in return. I’ve gone as high as a $20 tip on a picture.
In Rome, I saw this lady and I asked her politely if I could take her picture, and all of a sudden she ripped out her breast and started chasing me down the street. I got that photo, but I feel like she isn’t one of my proudest pictures because I took the photo as revenge. I have to respect people when I take their picture…but I like when homeless people smile for me. I think they feel special for a moment because most people wouldn’t give a homeless person the time of the day, so I take their picture, and I bring them a print back.
Is that a discussion you have with your subjects?
I talk about it with the guys on the [Raritan] river, but there were a number of homeless people in Europe that didn’t speak English, so I couldn’t speak to them about it. But I’ve talked with the homeless in New York. People have gotten what I’m trying to do.
of your street photos on your website are portraiture, how does that relate to the street?
I love faces from the street. They tell a story through each wrinkle, every mark in the shirt. It has a reminiscence of what you’ve been through.
Tell me about your series “Condemned.” You focused on inanimate objects. Can you explain the name?
Before I had the courage to ask people if I could take their pictures, I was going from abandoned building to abandoned building taking pictures, and I just fell in love with beat-up things with lots of texture on them and age, and they just look like they have a history to them. It looks like genuine, like it hasn’t come out of the factory. I have this fascination with broken things.
“People Pooping in Public Places.” What inspired this series?
I had this idea, and I kept telling myself that this would be a great series. My teacher told me not to do this. She said, “You’re going to get arrested. You’re going to get beat up by someone in the bathroom”…she scared me. So I got models or friends to go in the stall and take their pants down for a second, so I could take their picture and be on my way.
I noticed that most public bathrooms have cameras or security outside. So I got models or friends that I knew to go in there and take their pants down for a second and I pictures of their pants down, and I was on my way.
I shot all the pictures in Market Fair in Princeton, and I brought the girls into the men’s bathroom because I didn’t want to go into the girl’s bathroom, take pictures, and get arrested.
I like how the underwear can be portraiture.
I’m starting this new series; it’s going to be called: “Phone, Keys, and Wallet: The Essentials,” and it’s the three things that no one leaves the house without. When you’re drunk it’s “Where are my phone, keys and wallet?,” and you got to do a little pat down. The idea is to take portraits without a face. I want to work more in exploring identity and how people are identified through meaningless things.
To see more of Ziv’s work go to www.DanZivPhoto.com
Eric Weinstein