More of Kate Wilhelm's Photos
Submitted to Democracy
Photo license: © All rights reserved
Time for an update. At the time this picture was taken, this man had been living on the streets for 10 years and had a serious drinking problem. Since then, thanks to the help and interest of a local police officer and other key service providers, he's gotten his own apartment and I believe he's been dry. He's gotten back in touch with his family, who believed him long dead, and he even just got married yesterday - July 25, 2008. Our local paper ran a front-page story on him, and he submitted this photo for it, which also ran on the front page.
In the story Passing By.
8 responses
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Fabien Buffet said (29 Jan 2008):
So what ? I mean, just going downtown, find a homeless, take a photo, speak a little with him, and then ?
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Kate Wilhelm said (29 Jan 2008):
What would you prefer?
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Fabien Buffet said (1 Feb 2008):
Answering with a question just mean you can't answer. I mean, there are loads of photos like this one. So my question is : Why one more ? I just want to know why you felt like doing one more ? It's a real question, not an attack. The matter is not what I would prefer, I didn't shot a homeless as you did.
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Kate Wilhelm said (1 Feb 2008):
Actually, answering with a question meant I didn't understand your question and wanted some clarity. I wanted to treat it as a real question and not an attack (although I can't help but feel a little defensive because I'm human and want everyone to love me), but first I need to understand what you're asking.
I suppose I feel the need to shoot more homeless people for the same reason that anyone shoots a portrait. I don't mean to turn him into a trope, rather I want to show him as an individual human being. I think it's dangerous to lump homeless people together as a single "them," separate from "us." He's a person just like you and me and as worth of having a portrait made as anyone else.
And really, why shouldn't I shoot just one more? Photography is a funny thing... different photographers will shoot the same scene in as many different ways as there are photographers shooting. If I held myself back from shooting "just one more" anything - bicycle, ladder on its side, canoe, crumbling brick wall, graffit, whatever (and those are all things that keep cropping up in image after image of mine - I'd never shoot anything, and that would just be stupid. Although maybe that's why you haven't posted anything of your own?
I love shooting people, anyone, not just street people although their faces tell a lot more stories than others, but shooting people is much more challenging than shooting inanimate objects or scenes. Some people say they hide behind the camera but for me it feels like exposing myself. It's scary to ask for someone's picture, and I feel self-conscious shooting, but I make myself do it because I don't like not doing it.
And of course, there's the political angle. I believe it's wrong that there are people in this wealthy nation (or anywhere for that matter) without enough food to eat and no home and I know personally how easy it is to become homeless and hungry. It's too easy to deliberately ignore street people, and I want to challenge people to see them, to see this problem in our society and to take some measure of responsibility for their wellbeing. I remember once reading that you can tell a lot by how a person treats their dog, similarly you can tell a lot by the way a society treats their mentally ill. Maybe that's why you seem a bit threatened? Because you'd rather not think about street people as people like you and me? -
Kate Wilhelm said (1 Feb 2008):
PS thanks for coming back and clarifying your question... I thought you wouldn't come back and I'd have to wonder forever what you meant.
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Ivan Virovets gave props (7 Feb 2008):
Good point, Kate. I respect street photography for what it is, the portrature of people living in society. Some people don't understand that I guess.
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May Lattanzio gave props (7 Feb 2008):
I find this exchange odd. Why not. I just did a story on blurry birds and not capturing the right shot. The photos were awful. We have homeless here too, and each one has a story. The homeless come from every strata of society, and there but for the grace of God, go YOU! What I would have liked, Kate, is an elaboration of the conversation. Who was he? What did he do in his past life? Family? The monkey on his back - did it have a name, or was he simply waiting. For what? But one more image. YES! And more, and more. I take hundreds - thousands of dragonflies and butterflies. Other bugs. Why? Because no one really notices them - their absolute remarkableness, their beauty and brilliance. This guy could have been anything. There are different ways to fall. Keep your batteries charged and the camera at the ready. And then teach the baby to shoot...just one more.
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Kate Wilhelm said (7 Feb 2008):
Thanks for joining in.
May, we didn't have that kind of conversation; it was just friendly small talk. I didn't ask him why he was on the street and he didn't volunteer. I had anticipated seeing him again but I haven't, which concerns me.
But I've been volunteering at our local drop-in centre and the first person I served coffee (well hot chocolate) to on my first shift was a man I knew before he lost everything. I also have a family member who is always on the verge of homelessness it seems, so yes, I totally agree, there but for the grace of God...
