I am doing several projects at the same time. Some personal
projects bring in clients and help me earn my living. This homeless project
doesn’t do that at all. Structure out of
Chaos has always been a personal expense and a labor of love.
At times I need to take a break from it to make money and pay bills but it
always there in the background calling my name.
That is exactly what happened back in June. I was milling around the streets of New Orleans shooting for something else. One particular day I found myself in Jackson Square in front of St Louis Cathedral waiting on a person I needed to photograph. From behind me I heard a man yelling, “ Hey Miss, Hey Miss, I want to talk to you!” I turned around and met Doc.
I can’t help but describe Doc as a stereotypical homeless
man. He was drinking a draft beer and omitted an odor that made me take a step
backwards every few minutes when the wind changed direction. The smell was so bad that flies were
actually swarming around his bottom.
He introduced himself and he was very interested in why I
was taking photographs. I
explained my current project and also told him about this homeless documentary
to see if he could give me leads. I assume there is nowhere I can photograph in
New Orleans. Encampments are not visible
here probably due to all the abandoned property around town.
As I spoke with him a tourist came up and put a camera in
our face for a quick shot. Apparently, if you are a tourist you need to take a
snapshot of the local homeless people during your visit? Doc took it in stride. I thought it was
sort of rude. He says it happens all the time. I have learned to ask before
taking photos of homeless people even if it means I miss a good shot. Hence, my homeless work becomes
portraiture more than journalism.
Doc wanted to tell me about his life, as the beer appeared to be
making him chatty. He said he served in Vietnam and that when he was there he
had to kill babies. He started to point out children in the square and said that he
had killed children that same age. “How can people live with themselves after
that? ”Tears welled up in his eyes as he took another gulp of draft beer. He
changed the subject briefly by telling me he thought I was pretty.
I don’t know if he is a veteran or just a delusional
alcoholic. I have known drunks who have told war stories even though they had
never been in the service. One thing was for sure, he was homeless and he had a
story to tell about his daily survival on the streets. In spite of his stench, I
couldn’t help but feel the kindness of his warm heart.
Everything happens for a reason right? This is not who I came here to
photograph but since I am here I will snap off a few frames ( with his
permission) and pump him for information about how he lives. As it turned out
he loved the attention of getting his portrait made and this was probably the
reason he called me over.
Doc does NOT fit the profile of the people I photograph for
my project. The people in my
documentary go to great lengths to make a home. Doc however lives on a park
bench.
To discourage homelessness, the city of New Orleans removed park
benches from parks, they lock many parks and the few places where the public
can sit the bench is made so you can not lay down. In Jackson Square where Doc lives the park benches have armrests.
Since he can’t lay down he says he has trained himself to sleep sitting up. He
has a folding parade chair to prop his feet and he stows his earthly belongings
under the bench. To stay out of trouble he has to move his location around in
the square but anyway you look at it, Jackson Square is his home.
“Doc, what do you do if it rains?”
“Well, you get wet.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Na, you get used to it.”
Doc is nothing like the people who build camps. They bath,
they care about their little homes, they work jobs, they have bank
accounts. Doc did not impress me
as someone who was too concerned about his own physical survival except for one
thing, he was wearing bandages and pointed out that he was under a doctors
care.
I decided that meeting him was a sign that I needed to keep
shooting on my project. I was on the fence about whether to take a trip and
invest even more finances into this documentary. After meeting Doc, I took it
as a sign to keep pushing forward with this work. The invisible people of our
society need to be seen and heard. As we educate ourselves perhaps we may
inspire viable solutions to chronic homelessness such as improving the mental
health system in the United States.
