Stumbling Upon the Homeless
Today being the first day of non preparatory work for this project, I woke up early to try and get some pictures of a known
homeless home. I took a brief walk about two minutes down a path to find a small tent with a homeless person living in it. I’ve 
never met the person that lives here but I see them walk down this hill everyday. It was a blue tent down by the railroad tracks with the obvious signs of inhabitants. Thrown about are food wrappers and general garbage. Since it had rained last night the ground was wet and spongy and I could see holes in the tent that must have let the water in. Its just like camping but with beat up gear and you have to do it everyday. I spent about two minutes taking pictures and then left not wanting to run into the person who lives there. 
That when I realized that they were in there the whole time, I could see a cat peer through the little window in the tent. I thought about how it might feel to have someone come and take pictures of me in my home. I felt like I was trespassing even though I was on a public path. All of the sudden that space that the city owns, he has claimed a stake to. I couldn’t tell if i was in the wrong or he was. Something about me being there felt weird. I felt bad for taking pictures of his tent and garbage like it was a zoo. I really with I could have known if anyone was there. At the same time it really made me think, is that how homeless people feel? Do they feel like people look and stare like a zoo? I would hate that. Or do homeless people feel normal? This really got me thinking
about how even though I’ve had homeless friends and know homeless people, but I have no idea what if feels like to be homeless. This brought up that if I am trying to create images from the homeless perspective how am I might need to do some more thinking before I go out and shoot again. My photos are very observatory, it doesn’t make you feel what it is to be homeless. All of this really gave me a lot to think about. It also gave me a whole new appreciation for this project.
I really hope I didn’t offend that man. This project is aimed at helping the homeless, the last thing I would want to to is cause harm.
April 14th, 2013 at 3:35 pm
While I agree that this situation weighs heavily on your sense of morality, I feel like the fact that his camp is basically on a semi-developed trail in a very developed area makes what he might call his domestic space much more public than what we are generally used to.
He would have set his camp back farther from the trail if he genuinely did not want people to trek through/near his camp. His presence is an oddity in the middle of the forest, so why would people not stop to look?
I’m sure if you were ever approached by him he would be more than willing to at least hear about your project. Maybe you could even get an interview, just bring someone with you!
April 17th, 2013 at 5:21 pm
Your site is strikingly attractive! Your entry “Stumbling on the Homeless” counterposes private with public—an important consideration in your project. The detailed description of the campsite suggests that public might take prominence over private. If a person is trying to be private and inconspicuous, then he or she might make his or her presence unnoticeable—the garbage is very noticeable as you describe it—and as I see it in the photographs. Could this person be “calling” for someone to notice? This raises the complex psychological and social-emotional considerations of homelessness.