Environmental & Standard Portrait

I met Chris, a homeless person in London today (01/05/09).

I didn't convert this image 'cos I like the colour coordination between the pedestrians trainers and the homeless guy's blanket.

[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j159/paulyrichard/inhopelcontrastmediumdeepenedmedium.jpg[/IMG]




[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j159/paulyrichard/chriscropped34contrasthighdeepen-1.jpg[/IMG]

any chance you'll buy him a meal and get to know him a little?
I ask 'cause the photo leaves me wanting to know more...

Chris has run away from home due to abuse.
I gave him a bottle of Coke, three cigarettes and £2. He can get a meal from the soup kitchens if he decides to.

Funny how I suspected something like that. Street life can leave a person looking old and young at the same time.
He is very thin.
possibly drugs.

I wonder what could be so bad theat the streets (and perhaps drugs) seemed like a better option.

I notice his collar and blanket (or is it a jacket?) look half decent, and not frayed...
he hasn't been there for a real long time, I hope.

The sooner he makes a connection with somebody that has the capacity to care about him and help him up, the easier it will be for him to adjust to life off the streets.

prayers for him.
kudos to you for SEEING him and asking his name.
too many people look past the homeless as if they are invisible, or avoid them as if they're the plague.

Thanks Don.

Its funny that you mentioned drugs. I asked him if he was on drugs or an alcoholic, he sincerely told me he wasn't.
If this guy doesn't get any help soon he will be an alcoholic and on drugs, 'cos thats what homelessness promotes.

Homeless people here in my country do get a change of clothes, as a result of charitable organisations.

Yes Don...Thanks a great question.
I have an answer...Beatings...confinment....sexual abuse....hate....degrading of charector...no one wanting or caring about you ....being used...the list can go on and on.

As a child you need first to be loved, you need someone to TRULY cherious you...without this foundation, life can often loose purpose. He has suffered, and as you said ...suffered something far worse then 'the street, and homelessness".

WOW PAULY...Look what a picture can evoke!!! His eyes were so 'tack sharp' A picture is worth a thoudsand words played out well in this stunning photo!

My answer would be that I hope we never find out.

Thanks JudithAnn.

By the way, I used to live in Canada with my father, on the east coast - Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Let me say that while I was there, your people were the nicest i'd ever met.

By the way, I used to live in Canada with my father, on the east coast - Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Let me say that while I was there, your people were the nicest i'd ever met. [/quote]BY PAULY


Oh Pauly...That was nice to here... I grew-up in the Fredericton area, and I now live about two hours north from there. Even though it may not seem humble to say... I humbly say that it is true.

Here on the East Coast we are such 'down home folks'. You can often find that we treat stranges and fellow town folk the same.

Here on the Miramichi we have some extra-special programs for those in situations like Cris. Not just soup kitchen, but buddy programs and centers were free help is offered. Being as young as he is, he would be offer extented protection and care. In Canada all medicare is free, so anyone can be treated for anything including mental health


Oggy, just the opposite is true... we need to hear and understand stand what has happened...we need to find out. It is only when we know, that we can help and prevent this sad state of affairs. It makes us stronger to know...not weaker.

Okay, okay...i have said a plenty.:
Like I said before...A picture is worth a thousand word! Pauly proves that!

There are a lot of street people where I live as the area has always attracted them. Most (not all) are on drink or drugs or both and I feel fairly confident in saying that from a little involvement in this field. The two often go together in the sense that collecting enough for a ten-quid bag will not only buy you the drug but shelter for the night or at least some hours in a crack den or shooting gallery. If asked whether they have a problem they will all deny it, but that goes with the territory and is perfectly understandable. Buying them a meal often doesn't work because their physical condition is such that their digestion is shot and the intake of a lot of food - especially anything rich - is enough to make them sick, so one has to be careful about this. The social exclusion really hurts. You become a non-person and it is rare for a passer-by to look you in the eye. Most people have absolutely no idea how very easy it is to fall into this situation or how very very hard it is to get out of it. There is a night shelter here, for example, quite a good one by all accounts, but it is far too small for the sometimes huge numbers of folks who turn up outside it. The Canadian system mentioned by JudithAnn sounds good and an advance over what we have the UK.

very nice portrait

Thanks everyone.

Try to solve - you never will.
Try to help - you always will!

JudithAnn - I meant I hope no-one finds out first hand. Maybe a little selfish but---

Paul, its a great image, very powerful eye contact, but IMHO cd be even stronger by a crop, as it is my eye wanders north and out, but perhaps you dont like to crop, anyway, here is how I cd see it :

[IMG]http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u193/lillymermaid/chriscropped34contrasthighdeepen-1.jpg[/IMG]