You described exactly how I feel about those on Flickr who are doing this. It doesn't looks like documentary in 99.99 %. Zero story, just snapshot from the hip, waist level.
I'm thinking more of this book of HCB and another photographer, Evans? I have terribly short memory for names, book they did about USA in great depression time.
I took this book twice to read and look at photographs. This visually impaired person portrait with some hand written note on his hat...[/QUOTE
Do you mean Walker Evans ?