Homeless Portraits
An ongoing collection of B&W portraits of London's homeless.
Jay has been homeless for over 29 years due to a medical condition which he names the "suicide headache." It left him unable to work ever since he was a child. He sells the big issue around the Covent Garden area and does not hate the police even though they have hosed him down while he was sleeping on the floor on numerous occasions. He was very well spoken and told me that many of the homeless in London came from good professions, but due to the recession forced many of them onto the streets. He is still on a waiting list to be housed.
Leigh came to London from Scotland in search of work as he had nothing left for him back in Scotland. He hoped for a better life in London but unfortunately got caught up with the wrong crowd ending up becoming addicted to drugs. He has been thrown in and out of numerous hostels. He stays around the Russel Square area and has been harassed by the police many times even though he is causing no harm to anybody just sitting there.
Ken became homeless after a fire in his mothers house left him homeless and paralysed. He is unable to stay in hostels as they do not have wheel chair access which forces him to sleep on the streets. He is eligible for a number of benefits but is unable to claim them as he has no identification, as it got destroyed in the fire. He has been told that he has to buy himself the new id and it will not be provided for free. Yet he still sat there with a smile on his face and said to me that in life you just have to keep smiling.
Gary who is 25 years old has been in and out of numerous care homes after his parents died from drug and alcohol abuse. Coming to London from Scotland to look for work Gary became hooked on drugs forcing him to the streets.
Mick became homeless after coming out of prison. He was previously staying at a hostel, but that hostel has now shut down and been turned into an immigration centre. He hopes to save enough money so that he can rent somewhere himself as he has been let down by the system on many occasions. Mick feels he is casted as a junkie when people walk past him and says that it's junkies who give people the impression that all homeless people are like that. When i went to shake his hand his dog named Molly nearly bit my hand off. You could see how much she cared for him and that she was very cautious of anyone who came into contact with him. Mick said that she was his only true friend.
Colin became homeless after his friend who he was staying with suddenly died leaving him a week to find somewhere else. Unable to find anywhere he has now been homeless for 10 weeks. The only person there for Colin is his late friends dog named Ronnie. You can see the love in Colins eyes every time he looks at Ronnie. Colin says that he just wishes people would acknowledge him, even if they don't have any spare change. A simple no from them to him would mean a lot , rather than just walking by with their heads down. It would make him feel like a human being again.
Paul is 52 years old and has been homeless for 4 years. He became homeless shortly after his younger brother died, which lead him to having a break down. His brother did everything for him and was his best friend. Paul is also known as Papa Smurf on the streets as he used to have a big beard like the character.
