ON BEING HOMELESS

When my brother became homeless, I went looking for him, and during my search, I met many others on the street whose reasons for being homeless defied generalization. Some couldn’t make rent. Some didn’t want to make rent. Some were scarred by trauma while others found purpose in struggle. Others were addicts, disowned or driven mad by voices. Some just wanted to wake up to the sound of the ocean.

I interviewed many I met on the street, and though their reasons for being homeless are varied, all shared a need to be heard and understood. For each portrait, I pulled a compelling quote which the subject wrote in their own hand: a childhood recollection, a critical moment, an insight, a concern, a desire, an admission. A few words that allow us to see an individual. I hope viewers will take a moment to get to know those I’ve photographed because attention is the first step toward understanding and, as David Brooks suggests, “the purest form of generosity.”