Facing Homelessness

When I think about the circumstances in which it takes a person to become homeless, the reality of it is that any one of us could easily be in that situation. Factors like lack of affordable housing, inadequate income, injuries/illnesses, unemployment, violence/abuse, mental health and substance abuse, etc. For me, this is the exact reason why I found it difficult to understand why a person might view someone who is experiencing homelessness as ‘different’. With my photography I hope to shine a light on the genuine beauty and uniqueness of these people through portraiture in order to put a face to homelessness and humanize many individuals who are experiencing this. Within my community, my partner and I have had the opportunity to meet with many people who are living on the streets and have been honoured to listen to their powerful stories. My wish is to capture these people, exactly the way they are, and tell their story through these portraits. I believe that if we opened up our minds and removed established barriers between the “housed” and the “homeless”, we could create an environment of empathy and equality. Facing homelessness to me means looking into the eyes of a person without a home, empathizing with this person, and opening up the conversation of the how’s, the why’s and the what can we do.