Ending Homelessness
By Jenny Roh
19 May 2008
Homelessness... is a pretty big issue in the United States that I'm sure everyone can agree on. We see them almost everywhere in places like freeway exits, closed down buildings, underneath the bridges, the streets of downtown, and anywhere else just roaming around. Holding signs for money, but who knows what they really want? It's sad because I'm sure there's some out there who actually make good use of the pocket money we toss to them, but the most of us can't help but to perceive them as some beggar who's just going to use what they plead for booze or drugs.
So with living in Seattle, it was easy for me to find a good location where I could possibly take some photographs. I went down to Pike Place market because they all gather over there near the totem pole.
It was probably one of the hardest projects I've done for myself because most of them kept looking at me weird and who can blame them? If I was homeless, I don't think I'd want someone to take pictures of me either. Luckily I did get some decent shots, I know I could've gotten some better ones, but I'm satisfied enough with what I got.
What I really liked through this assignment was how much my perspective changed. Before, when someone would come up to me and ask for money, most of the time I would say the usual, "No, sorry..." One time this woman I ran into at Albertsons wouldn't take no for an answer and almost followed me into my car. But now, sure I still won't give out money, but I see them differently. I used to just really not care and shrug them off, but they're in my thoughts in a more personal way now.
When I was down at Pike Place, I observed all those musicians scattered throughout the market. Some of them must've been unemployed and ohers just passionate about music. For the homeless, it's like they're in their own world. An entirely different community where some of them are actually enjoying their life when they have nothing.
There's this man named Gerard Joseph Hegarty who reside in San Francisco, CA and loves his life. He's been homeless for 10 years and he has no complaints besides when people litter around his bench and squirrels start interfering with him.
A group of volunteers do a One Night Count every year where they go to certain areas and count the amount of homeless people there were and for this year they counted 2,631 people in the areas of Seattle. According to my research, that's a 15% increase from last year. I just think that this increase shouldn't be going on and hopefully some strong action can take place.
In conclusion, my photos mainly consist of the PIke Place area of musicians and just groups of homeless men who seem to be friends and get along well. Most of them are really simple, and I definitely wish I could've done a different variety. The only one that wasn't taken at Pike Place is of a man sleeping on a bench in Coney Island. To end this story...as the homeless says, "God Bless!"
Check out my video documentary if you're interested:
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