End Homelessness Now! Project #7

I gained a massive insight from this man, in regard to the homeless. He has no mental health problems and has been on the streets since '82.
When I asked him how he came to be in this situation, he didn't want to answer and became uncomfortable with the question.
He is a nice amiable chap.

Mental health problems maybe an issue for some, but so far the consensus is low, and he doesn't know anyone with any mental health problems.

When you think about it, a lot of people suffer with mental health issues, but they don't end up on the streets, homeless.
Also, it seems bein' homeless leads to drug abuse and alcoholism 'cos this is what it takes to get them through the day.
I'm reservin' judgement on all what i've stated above, until my job is done.

When I was much younger I lived in Exeter which was on the migration route for tramps as they were then called. Each spring and autumn these guys would pass through to or from warmer Cornwall to London. For some reason despite my youth (we are talking 30+ years ago) I seemed to be able to chat to them and I got the impression from most of them that it was a life style choice. They liked moving about. Many of them clearly drank an awful lot and they also alienated the locals as they did steal from shops and milk from doorsteps.

Some years later I also got to talk to a local tramp as we walked the same route when I lived in Worcester. He looked like Gimli from Lord of the Rings except you saw even less of his face. He was remarkably well spoken once you got to talk to him and he said he spent his time walking between his daughter's house in Gloucestershire and somewhere a bit beyond Worcester. For years I would see him from time to time - he too liked his life on the road and almost certainly had the choice of a home.

I think these guys were in a far more complex situation than maybe your guys are but they certainly didn't give the impression that they wanted to be off the road or indeed have a home. As I say I understand that for many it isn't a life style choice but equally I suspect many of them might not want Boris to save them from the street for whatever reasons they may have.

I also understand that what I'm saying can sound like an excuse to do nothing when something needs to be done. I believe that it's a very complex situation that our society maybe can't help them with as they prefer some sort of parallel way of living in some but obviously not all cases.

Mike

Yeah, i'm very aware of that Mike. Are you sure they weren't Travellers or gypsy types?

I do tend to ask them that, amongst everythin' else I can think of at the time, whether they could 'hack' it havin' a place of they're own and the responsibility that that entails.
The guys in photo #4 and #5 (I have they're names jotted down somewhere) said that they could.
The guy in photo #1 said he has never had the chance and jus' shook his shoulders.

The others weren't asked. This is one of the things I need to find out about. But I don't think it is a valid excuse not to treat these people, they need to be rehabilitated from they're social exclusion.

Have you thought of approaching the various charities with your photos and asking them if they can think of ways in which you can help?

Yeah, now that Karl and DavidTrout have enlightened me also. Thanks Oggy.

Well we may have to disagree on this but if they are happy living rough and not expressing a desire to integrate into 'normal' society then I'm not sure they need treatment - apart from the guys who have the mental conditions. Tough call but I'm not strong on imposing my standards of normality on others - as much as anything because I know I'm not entirely normal myself having any number of quirks that lead me to see things differently to others.

The guys I met - and it was almost always men - were tramps not travellers and were simply not participating in mainstream society. Times were simpler and more innocent then though in many ways.

Mike

Yeah, I agree with what you say, Mike. There is no law or imposition against vagrancy.

Anyway, any thoughts about my photo?

Good composition apart from the right edge where I find the intrusion of the guy roller blading is distracting as are the diverging verticals. For a reason I can't explain both these seem to rob the main subject of its simplicity and immediacy.

Just covering up bits of the screen suggests to me a squarer crop within the white foyer wall is more effective.

You do have a very good B&W technique as we have seen before. Do none of these images lend themselves to colour?

May I ask if the guy has passed out, taking a snooze or is he posed which given the rapport you build is a possibility? I'm just curious I don#'t think it matters one way or the other, I'm simply wondering about the circumstances.

Mike

Thanks Mike.

I'm always lookin' for analogies and juxtapositions in my photographs.
Your photo of the graffitied hammer and real pile of rubble that I saw spoke volumes to me, and is exactly the same thing.

I was really fortunate to get this guy skatin' into the image. I saw him comin' before I took the image, and decided that he would make a good juxtaposition between himself and this guy prone in the doorway.

But the image has turned out even better than I could've imagined. Look at the angle of the skaters legs and the angle of the vagrants legs. Also, the dynamic action of the skater compared to the prone state of the vagrant. There lies the analogy.

B&W works so much better in reportage photography 'cos your eyes focus straight away on the content of the photograph, whereas colour will detract.
But colour can be important as well, but in a more limited way.

I have a couple of images of him after he woke up, and we chatted for about fifteen minutes or so. He was only sleepin'.

I understand what you say about the roller skater and the contrast and it's valid but I think the image doesn't need it to be powerful and that extra detail actually detracts from your subject - but that's just a personal view.

Mike