Dave Chinn wrote:
Would you, could you, will you?
Yeah- I know or heard about groups of "professional panhandlers" who work the streets and pool there takes each day..some are fact and some are urban legends. My own experience in my city proves otherwise in many situations.
I will say that my city has incredible resources for unfortunate people and in most cases NOBODY needs to live on the street and go entirely homeless. There are countless charities, shelters, social workers, church and grovenemtnal organizations, veterans gorups and services. The people that are actually homeless are usually suffering from serious emotional, psychological, major addictions or untreated medical disorders and perhaps don't want to be helped or just to down and out and disabled to seek out assistance. Some of theses are young folks and that is absolutely tragic. Among theses "street people" are victims that have been devistatigly abused, veterans with untreated disorders, older folks suffering from dementia and some circumstances that I won't even discuss here- almost unbelievable! So some legitimately needy people just, as the say, "fall through the cracks" into deep abyss! Most of theses people are not out to sacm anyone and sadly enough, many are found suffering from hypothermia, exposure or discovered frozen to death- it's cold in the Winter up here in Canada.
When I a stopped on the street by some of those people, believe me, I can look in their eyes and see the pain in their faces and know the are not driving home to their condo in a luxury car. I can tell if the are looking for a handout for a "fix" or if the really need a meal. I bought a good number of Big Macs in my line and I don't eat fast food!
Obviously, I can't give everyone money or food all the time but I can support some of the charitable organizations. I regularly do free photography for theses groups. On a few documentary jobs I have seen some pretty rough stuff- folks living under the steps of a shopping center and doing desperate and self destructive things. I can take someone into my warm car and drive them to a shelter or an emergency room, I can call an ambulance or the police service. I always have some old warm blankets in the car- they can save a life.
There are lots of "do-gooders" around who will throw money at causes (it's tax deductible) but protest whe the Salvation Army want to build a shelter in their neighborhood or if the health service wands to install a supervised injection site- it lowers the real estate values. Perhaps they would rather find poor dead folks behind their upscale apartment buildings- that happens.The go thereto eat out of dumpsters and seek shelter in garbage sheds and die there.
I am not playing Mr. Hero- I don't patrol the street looking for trouble and tragedy but if you live in an urban environment, unless you are blind, invisible or totally withou sympathy you are gonna see theses things, be approached by theses terribly neglected and desperate people and you gotta do something. Bad guys and scammers?- that's for the police to look after.
Unless I am on a documentary job, I don't photograph theses people. I know there is no entitlement to privacy in public spaces as if people were in their own home or on their private property. These folks have no property and sadly enough, the street is their home. If someone else want to make "art" out of them- that's their business. If I want to make a "character" portrait, I'll hire an actor or a model or wait for a client with a weathered complexion.