A street shot & document for 'jazz for the homeless'

I was in Manhattan a few weeks ago and parked in Midtown in the morning. I had a dental appointment, so my wife waited in the car. So there were two homeless homes about thirty feet apart. The first, the woman was still there getting dressed for the day. She put on pearls, perfume, and decent clothes and then left with a cart to do her work for the day, whatever that is. I was embarrassed to take a shot, frankly, I didn't want her to see me doing it.

 

So I took this shot of the second home with my cellphone. The guy (or gal) was gone when we parked. But just like you or me, he locked up his place when he left. Of course, he didn't use a lock but a couple of strips of tape to seal the "door". That says a lot to me. Despite his cardboard home, it was his place and his property and he respected it enough to lock it up if only with tape. I think that's indicative of the pride even homeless people feel as desperate as they are. Maybe even more prideful as that's all they have.

This Side Up - Park bench to Park Avenue by Alan Klein, on Flickr

Alan, indeed homeless persons still are persons.

Clearly there are lots of reasons for homelessness today. One of the many problems is that over the years, all of the social services we had in place for mental health and other issues have been defunded, one by one. There used to be a whole network for keeping people either safe or off the street. As this system was being systematically dismantled, the number of people living on the street rose. Given the current, deteriorating economic (and social) conditions, the homeless population has since skyrocketed.

 

I am of the opinion that we should find compassion in our hearts for these folks. We should try to have a little understanding. Be a little softer on them, a bit kinder to them.

(In fact ideally we would treat everyone this way, no matter who they are, regardless of their circumstance!)

 

At the end of the day, "street" people are simply, "people". Fellow human beings.

When we choose to "help" them in any way, we must do so without judgement and without expectations.

My experience has been that the causes of homelessness are many and varied. Some have lost jobs with no immediate hope of finding another. Some lost a spouse, others were evicted from their apartments or lost a home due to foreclosure, etc., etc. I still remember talking to a client of the facility at which I volunteer, who showed me a photograph of himself while participating in the the New York Yankees' training camp. He had an unexpected, early departure from playing baseball due to a severe injury. I could go on and on.

To me, the OP image is a powerful reminder of homelessness narratives.

It is. Black, female, young & trans disenfranchised people are all the same. They are disenfranchised. End of.

 

Still a sh1te photo :)

Ludmilla, have you ever spoken to a homeless person? If not, perhaps this explains your dislike of the OP image.

I was in Manhattan a few weeks ago and parked in Midtown in the morning. I had a dental appointment, so my wife waited in the car. So there were two homeless homes about thirty feet apart. The first, the woman was still there getting dressed for the day. She put on pearls, perfume, and decent clothes and then left with a cart to do her work for the day, whatever that is. I was embarrassed to take a shot, frankly, I didn't want her to see me doing it.

 

So I took this shot of the second home with my cellphone. The guy (or gal) was gone when we parked. But just like you or me, he locked up his place when he left. Of course, he didn't use a lock but a couple of strips of tape to seal the "door". That says a lot to me. Despite his cardboard home, it was his place and his property and he respected it enough to lock it up if only with tape. I think that's indicative of the pride even homeless people feel as desperate as they are. Maybe even more prideful as that's all they have.

This Side Up - Park bench to Park Avenue by Alan Klein, on Flickr

I don't find the photo self-explanatory... AlanKlein's commentary is important. .