Homeless: who, not what
In September and October 2010, I was invited by 701 Center for Contemporary Art (701 CCA) in Columbia, SC (USA) as an artist-in-residence. While in Columbia, I made a series of portraits of homeless people. I came to understand that the men and women that roam around in the Main Street area of Columbia and elsewhere, an estimated 1,000 or more in total, are generally looked upon by the public as criminals, people to be afraid of and to shy away from. What became clear to me was in fact, the homeless are just as likely to be the victims of a crime as the perpetrators: life on the streets is hazardous. Many of them have mental health problems. Some have lost their homes due to the economic crisis, others are or have been “substance abusers” or have served prison sentences. Their names are published on the internet and with the legal restrictions there is little chance for them to get their lives back on track because of this public knowledge of their criminal history.
I realized that homelessness is not the most original theme for a photographer, however I felt I could add a new dimension by portraying these people not as what they are: homeless, with all visual references of destitution that society associates with that such as bagpacks, shopping carts, tents and sleeping bags, etc., but by focusing on who they are.
Studio
I set up a studio with my Fuji GX680 camera in one of the offices of the University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine’s Supportive Housing Services (SHS), a place where the homeless would feel at ease to have their photograph taken since they often come to SHS for services and to obtain assistance acquiring temporary housing. I accompanied Tom Bolton, one of the SHS outreach workers, and Candice Morgan, a SC Department of Mental Health worker, to meet the homeless out on the streets of Columbia, often at the public library or at a local park. They introduced me to the men and women whom I invited back to the photo studio at SHS, where I first recorded an interview with them and then portrayed them against a neutral backdrop – just as I might portray any average citizen. This way, I sidestepped the material connotations (and the stereotypes) and visually concentrated on their state of mind.
Extension
Since then, I have begun to work on an extension of the project to at least two other locations in the Southern United States: Atlanta, Georgia and possibly, the Mississippi Delta: a big city and a small-town “habitat,” next to the medium-sized city of Columbia.
Results
As final results, I aim for a traveling exhibition and a book to be produced, in which I plan to combine the photos with quotes from the interviews. I hope this will contribute to a better understanding of the fate of the homeless.
The 701 CCA is currently working on an exhibition of the homeless portraits to be shown in a public space in Columbia, SC sometime in 2011.
