Young person panhandling beside teddy bear, San Francisco, February 2007
She sits in a way ladies aren’t supposed to, beside a large teddy bear, which doesn’t seem to mind. They’re layered in a sort of soot set by time. But there’s a familiarity.
The people pass in huddled disbelief at what she shows. Though it’s not so much, it looks like more. Their eyes and fingers point. There’s shock as they go.
She’s grasping her knees like she’s sitting in a cold shower remembering the night before. Like she’s crashing down off the heroin she took too long before. Like she needs another fix.
But first she “just” needs five bucks. For that “habit” she has. She’s been panhandling.
There’s a skin trade everywhere here. And she looks the part. With her pink lipstick and blond wig. With her bare coverings. With her indiscretion.
But she has a face that is so familiar.
And when she talks it’s not as a lady.
Name’s Wayland; from San Mateo. Been on the street since he was sixteen.
He’s been living in a nearby low income hotel he pays with SSI benefits.
What for, the SSI? He points to his head.
Says he has plenty of friends on the street, but his family is mostly dead; except for a sister. He visits her sometimes.
And I know now that I’ve met him before as a boy.
Thank-you very much Tom Stone, Amazing work you’re doing, Well Done!
Best Wishes To Everybody And Good Luck!
Haunting. It is difficult to look at these photos and not see your own humanity reflected back at you in the eyes, not knowing that luck, a few particular people, a few particular choices here and there are all that separate you. Strip away the clothes, the hair, the skin, the body and what you have is another human soul reminding you that we are, collectively, one and the same.
Carla- Exactly. EXACTLY.
Jack, Tom: this is a wonderful photo essay that I’m very proud to see here on GMP. Thanks for sharing the images and stories with us.
Thanks Todd. I am proud of this piece. Tom Stone is the embodiment of the GMP ethos, and troll bait or not a nerve gets struck, and my involvement gets called into question. I get the choice to do something or not. That is the highest call for an artist like Tom. Awareness is the first step. Then the discussion, and action, or not. GMP exists for those very reasons, and I can only hope to ask, discuss, and answer those questions in myself through that awareness. The world is not always beautiful, but there is beauty in the ugliest… Read more »
Thanks for this piece. “To my thinking, the original human trauma is our separation. We are too close not to need each other; and too far to trust each other. We rely on dubious senses and clever devices to interact; but we are alone in our thoughts. Lonely, insecure and uncertain; we pair, we group, we associate. We try to belong and we seek to exclude. We form bonds by geography, religion, economy and otherwise. But it is all precarious. We come together and we drive apart.” Love it.
It’s very sad that all of these homeless men are neglected by society and men make up the vast majority of homeless neglected by government programs.
What are good men doing about it besides taking pictures?
I hope I’m not feeding the trolls here, but on the off chance your question is genuine, Bad Man, I’ll tell you what I do:
I raise money for homeless NGOs and charities locally, participate in events like Cardboard Box City (see my article about that here on GMP), help host homeless families, and help steer homeless people into shelters and treatment programs, and teach my children to do the same, and I pray for homeless people everywhere.
Tell us about what you do.