Homeless v.1 :: Polaroid

When I came back to Dallas in November I found that many of the promising leads for work I had actually led nowhere. After a couple weeks I began to get worried. I knew that I had to find something to fill my time or I would end up defeated and depressed. My friend Brandon had an assignment to cover a church parking lot who offered it's space to homeless people for sleep. The city has recently made it difficult for the homeless. No longer can they find a corner and fall asleep. Now they have to hide. I went with him.

Not surprisingly we were met very kindly by the community on the lot and I managed to meet a few people. I went back a few days later to talk to the guys I met. I decided to spend a night on the street with them. I wasn't looking for a project. Just something legitimate to fill my time. I was hoping to get a broader perspective on how the homeless in Dallas live.

My contacts were two older men in their 50s. Johnie was small and unassuming. He didn't speak much. He would rather listen...and he never passed judgment. He was well groomed, well mannered, and sober. Skeet was tall and very assuming. Like Johnie, he was well groomed (although he sported an nice 3 week beard.) He too was well mannered, sober, and extremely intelligent. He was fluent in five languages. Neither man drank or partook in drugs. They did smoke cigarettes. It was surprising to see these men on the streets. They appeared quite capable and from what I saw they were just down on their luck. A cliché. Lost their jobs and no one wanted to hire a man in his 40s.

I began seeing the men every day or so. This went on for a month and a half. I always carried my camera. I never felt like I got deep enough into their lives though. Much of our time together was spent sitting and talking. Not much action. I kept waiting for more.

Around the holidays I got my Polaroid Land Camera. I figured that despite the lack of action, I could at least take some portraits. In fact, most of the portraits were not of Johnie or Skeet, but of other people I met on the street.

These are the Polaroids from those days. Johnie and Skeet are in the first picture.