First Images......Humanity Project

[ApertureF11Sniper]

Not sure how to put this.....I thought about doing a photo project of the drug epidemic...... Here in Washington it is very very bad.... There's a part of town where they seem concentrated.......You have people, generally younger in dirty clothes and they are a mess. More often then not pushing a shopping cart that is full of mostly garbage that they have latched onto for one reason or another.........Some spots you can see back into the woods some make shift tents and trash that looks like a dumpster exploded. On closer look you'd see trash, human waste and used needles. This is what they live in........ But to photograph it....... I find it so emotionally tolling just to be there.

I spent a summer in this location with the Mexicans as a day labor. Made good money too.. But often I was buying food or shoes for the homeless..... I do know that one that I helped out he made it out he got the help, he is now drug free and doing good. But before he was just a street druggie.....It is the saddest place on earth with the drugs and the prostitutes and occasional violence. But to photograph that..... One of my idols National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey did a piece on the Native reservation that, the images were sad but gripping but it was a story that had to be told and in some ways this story has to be told of these people who struggle with addiction and violence.

This would be a three year project for me. And they think right away your a cop and right away they are asking you for money, some times food. Theft is huge there at the near by Walmart and Home Depot.

I remember from when I was doing the day labor these things get etched in your mind. And few people want to help these people or even acknowledge them....I remember one day I saw this one girl who was a prostitute and a regular to the area and she looked really bad so I walked over to her and asked if I could get her anything. She asked if I could get her some water........ It just filled me with sadness...... So if I were to do this project I have to prepare for the toll that it will take but I want to make some kind of statement. But too how to stay safe......

When I was working out of there in the time between jobs I met a number of the regulars......One was Dominic and he had no shoes when I met him. So I went to Goodwill and got him shoes but 2 days later they were stolen from him while he slept..... I got to know him over the months buying him food and such.. Being there takes a toll on you. The end goal is to show the human side of all of this....It's easy just driving by to see these people some passed out, some half dressed some walking in circles and you drive by and go to your comfortable home........

I spent over 12 years working with 100 different models. Thats easy compared to this. This area has been like this for close to if not more then 10 years......These people we call them zombies, they have no face....So it's easy not to be a priority no face so they are no matter. My job would be to give them a face.....And the state thinks oh we'll give them a home that will solve this.....Noooooooooooo......Your only going to have drug houses..... What they should do IMO is have 150 mobile case workers that have a degree in psychology and be there every day. There are those who can be helped but I fear this will never really be addressed.

When I was there one day a social worker showed up and said she was looking for Rosie......Rosie is an adult but with the mentality of a 10 yr old.......At first I avoided talking to her but then I would start saying good morning. And some days she would be super high she'd take 10 steps then stare at the ground and mutter a few things that could not be understood.....One afternoon she was walking through the parking lot and I said Rosie where are you going...Drinking she said, I am going to go drinking. I said Rosie you want a strawberry shake? Wendy's was right there.....She thought for a second and said sure.....I said but you have to promise me Rosie that you won't go drinking....She thought about it and said okay I promise....So I went and bought her a strawberry shake.. Rosie was one that would do good for a little bit then she'd be around the wrong people.

What I want to do in short is to give them a face and show that face to people.....And hope that's a step in the right direction. But I can't separate myself. I can not turn off the emotion, that part of you that cares and that is what would make this hard.

If you want to see a great short video I highly recommend this one by Nat Geo photographer Aaron Huey and the Ted Talk that he did. Both are extremely moving but I kind of have a feeling no one will watch the video. It's sad, it's about the Black hills.......Link >>>>>>

**On The Local News** Morge's are running out of space in part because of the drug related deaths that are skyrocketing.

 

[ApertureF11Sniper]

These are the first images from my humanity project......There are those who feel we should just let them die, that attitude I find pathetic and weak..... Everyone has a story, everyone have a different reason for being there and they are use to people NOT caring or caring for some reason that is based in some gain for themselves....... I have just started so I am NOT accepted by them but that is changing....

The following images....I met these two at a gas station in a very bad part of town and I was asking them about being homeless and about their addiction when I thought wow I did not even ask them how they were...... So I asked if they had eaten today. To which they had not so I said hey lets walk to Wendy's I will get you a chicken sandwich. I bought them both a chicken sandwich, a large fry for them to share and a large Ice - T .......After this I asked if I could get a close up and they let me. This is Mike and Nikki. Mike has been homeless all his life, he is 45. Nikki I did not ask just based on the pain I saw in her eyes I did not think it to be wise to touch that nerve.

This was day one......I was back there today we have this cold spell so I was handing out hand warmers which is like nothing but it's all I had at home. I also handed out these protein bars I had and a few sodas..... I have a coffee stand I go to, shes a bikini barista but I have known her for 4 years now when I told her what I was doing she started giving me all this food to hand out, muffins, couple bottles of coke and other things.

It's a very dark world..... If I help one, just one person to get clean all of this will be worth it but this is to put a face and a story to the addict. To never see a face to never know the story it is easy not to care.......

With the second picture, Nikki it is all in her eyes they speak volumes......My good friend saw the picture of Nikki and said "Good Lord!!!"

This will be a 4 year project, if I can endure it that long. It's a very dark world.....

 

[crzyfotopeeple]

Are you familiar with the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words"? It might be an approach you could look into using sometime. It might eliminate a paragraph of humble bragging.

 

[cgw]

Zero impact. Avedon's "In the America West" might help. Try "Hamburger Eyes" magazine, too.

 

[jeffashman]

Nice shots! #1 looks amused. #2 lost.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

You would be undertaking a noble project, but to what benefit, and at what cost?

For as long a I can remember, this and similar issues have been addressed by countless charities and departments in the government for decades. Such efforts have done much to reduce and help many people in need.

Unfortunately, there is no cure all; not because such conditions are not reported, multiple groups from neighborhood churches to the major news networks cover these issues. In a free society you cannot force an individual into rehab.

Street photograph can be a useful tool, particularly on the local level with your one on one approach. It allows you to put a name and a face to your efforts. However, you are in an arena where people play by a completely different set of rules, they may not like your good intentions. Also the cost can be quite dear on the emotional level, a lot of time spent for a very short term gain.

Good luck and take care.

 

[cgw]

The OP needs to create a free-standing blog somewhere.

 

[ApertureF11Sniper]

You would be undertaking a noble project, but to what benefit, and at what cost?

For as long a I can remember, this and similar issues have been addressed by countless charities and departments in the government for decades. Such efforts have done much to reduce and help many people in need.

Unfortunately, there is no cure all; not because such conditions are not reported, multiple groups from neighborhood churches to the major news networks cover these issues. In a free society you cannot force an individual into rehab.

Street photograph can be a useful tool, particularly on the local level with your one on one approach. It allows you to put a name and a face to your efforts. However, you are in an arena where people play by a completely different set of rules, they may not like your good intentions. Also the cost can be quite dear on the emotional level, a lot of time spent for a very short term gain.

Good luck and take care.

Sure there's a lot of truth to what you say and what you say is without disregard or malice but I don't think you can ever give up trying. And if one life is effected, if just one is saved it's worth every minute.... And yes you have to be very aware of how you are being received.. Today all day I was on the streets and I also talked to a responding officer who knows very well a number of the people I mentioned that I have had interactions with. But like you said about those not receptive, I have to be very aware of body posture and what someone is saying or how they are responding..... I am though getting growing support from the street community.

When all this is said and done what I will have is a number of pictures of these people that will bring back memories but hopefully I will have enough to be displayed in like a gallery setting or that can be submitted in a story to National Geographic.

One individual I met he goes by "Worm" he is filled with cancer. Some have obvious mental health issues and some have not so obvious mental health issues so when talking to anyone you have to be reading where they are at....One of the hardest things is you want to help them all out with food.

Some how these people have gotten use to living in filth. Things have been tried that fail to work like one homeless person said there should be porta potties provided but I guess that was tried.

One of the side benefits to this is that it is very humbling..... It's more sickening then it is humbling but it is humbling. I appreciate this nice warm house I'll tell you that much and being drug free. Having a car and food in the fridge when ever I want it. Simple things taken for granted by most everyone.

 

[smoke665]

Having dealt with this issue as a VFFR on scene and personally with family members, I've learned there is no "helping" them, only "they" have the power to kick the habit. Once they start that slide down the rabbit hole, it becomes a balancing act between "helping" and "enabling". I've responded to near death ODs where the addict swore they'd hit bottom and done with drugs, only to get out of the hospital and immediately OD again. These programs that supply needles or provide "safe" places to shoot up aren't helping, they're enabling the addict to remain an addict. I can tell you that there are many programs out there for those who truly want help, the only requirement is that they stay clean. If "they" commit to that "they" can kick the habit, but no one can "help" them.

 

[smoke665]

@crzyfotopeeple pretty much nailed it above. Images particularly street shots should tell the story on their own without 6 paragraphs of back story. I understand you fixated on the eyes, but the tight crop leaves out the story told by the environment. Without the long backstory, as viewers there's nothing in the images to tell us of the plight of the subjects, they could just be the neighbors next door for all we know.

There used to be a member on here (Black_square) who's photography and post skills were such that his street shots put you up close and personal with the subject, yet you had no doubt of the environment the person lived in.

 

[ApertureF11Sniper]

My very first two people that I talked to and they like many have been were not to sure about having their picture taken and they are very self conscious about looking like a hot mess. Eyes will always tell a story and if you can't see that I can't help you. ..People I have shown the images here have reacted strongly to them. The two subjects in the pictures have since seen the pictures and liked them. Now they are more receptive to having more pictures taken..... I'm not trying to tell a story with a single image. These two images open the door for more, 3 years from now when I have 100 images of him or of her then I will have what I want . I will have more of a story.

(argumentative part deleted by a moderator)

 

[smoke665]

. Eyes will always tell a story and if you can't see that I can't help you

I've been up close looking into the eyes of people strung out out on everything from crack, meth, opiates and more. Nothing about the eyes on these two scream hard core drug use or despair. They might be homeless, but there's no environmental context to tell the viewer that, and the eyes are to bright, to clear, and little evidence of the rheumy sunken eyes of a long term homeless person, let alone an addict.

(argumentative pieces deleted by a moderator)

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Being published in Nat. Geo. would be a major coop.

However, it would be a tough sell. Nat. Geo. usually covers unsuspecting victims of floods, fire, habitat change, or other issues which they did not anticipate or had no control over.

While people may seriously debate the pros and cons any particular aid program, few will argue that trying to do good, is a good thing.

Be safe,

 

[limr]

Two threads with the same discussion have been merged and moved to the Photojournalism gallery forum.

 

[ApertureF11Sniper]

Being published in Nat. Geo. would be a major coop.

However, it would be a tough sell. Nat. Geo. usually covers unsuspecting victims of floods, fire, habitat change, or other issues which they did not anticipate or had no control over.

While people may seriously debate the pros and cons any particular aid program, few will argue that trying to do good, is a good thing.

Be safe,

Today I was in a dollar store buying a LOT of gloves which seems odd so I told the girl ringing me up that I was handing them out to homeless people in Everett..... She said "oh thank you, I use to be one of those addicted people and we appreciate people who do that"......Shes clean now. I asked her if she knew Domminic and she said yes. I told her about how he was clean now.

Nat Geo has covered the drug epidemic and even if they were not interested in it I would still move forward with it.... Theres a number of people who have struck a cord in my heart. Mike and Nikki, a guy who goes by Worm, Tyson and Ann, Orin and a few others.