HIS WORLD- COLLABORATING WITH CARLOS

As my summer project in preparation for the final year, I knew I wanted to dive into the deep end of social documentary photography and explore how not to exploit my subject matter when dealing with difficult issues such as homelessness.

Reading an article by Robert Shults'A FORMERLY HOMELESS PHOTOGRAPHER ON HOW TO (AND NOT TO) PHOTOGRAPH HOMELESS PEOPLE' it enlightened me on how many photographers want to photograph social situation such as homelessness but what are they actually telling us with their images is what we already know. like Robert says within his interview with photo district news (PND) we all know that there are homeless people around our town and city it won't just go away and us a public are already aware of their activities such as sleeping on the streets, drug and alcohol abuse.

So, after reading this I still wanted to use the power of my camera for their greater good in documenting homelessness but not traditionally. So, I decided I was going to buy a disposable camera and give it to a man living on the streets I had spoken to only a few days prior after giving him some food and water.

I sat and spoke with the man I later found to be called Carlos, I spoke to him about what I wanted to do with this project and how I wanted to focus on people like him but in no way exploit them for their current situation. he agreed to take the disposable and photographing himself his day to day life her seemed very interested in my idea although he made it very clear he didn't want to be in any photographs as he hoped one day to have a better life of the streets and doesn't want any evidence of his current situation. For his kindness in willing to help me with this project I got him a few new clothes to see him through.

I speak to Carlos weekly (when I can find him) about how he's doing, his lovely dog and how he's getting on with the camera. He hasn't managed to finnish the film role yet and he may never. But I believe he doesn't want to get it wrong and is trying to capture things he thinks I will find interesting. Little does he know anything that comes back after possessing the film I will be astonished by as I am so interested to find out what a Man with very little belonging will find interesting enough to photography or what photographs of his sleeping arrangement may be as they will be raw. Not staged or forced.

I am going to use the images Carlos produced in the inspiration of what I shall take images off to continue this project, for now, I have just been taking snapshots of the places I walk around when in search for him.