Reaganism

about the photos, they were shot over an elapsed time frame of a couple months. My engagement and purpose with the subjects was to first meet them, learn about their story of why they were on the streets. Once I built a friendship with them, I than proceeded to let my camera tell the rest of their story. This is my way of shooting portrait photographs, I like to first evoke a sense of oneness with my subject so they and I both have a connection to what we are both partaking in, which helps with letting the "birdie come out". My main point in taking these photos was not to exploit these peoples lives, but to bring awareness that we are letting our own people in America (the home of the brave and free) go hungry, homeless and helpless. For if you look deeper into the problem of homelessness, you can trace a large root of the problem to the budget cuts of the late 80's into the early 90's, where Reagan cut funding to those who were on public health care ie my subjects. This is what I found out by listening and caring about these wonderful, beautiful, and unique people. But most of the time we ignore these people. The sad thing is, they are human beings like you and I. So these images above all else are the ignored beauty that goes unseen by the normal passerby and a statement to the system, which has caused these citizens to be stripped of their pride, freedom and lives. I hope this helps you understand better how, and what my intent was and still is.