DC's disposable detritus: It is heartless how homeless humans are being treated, By Hal M. Brown - A photo essay

 

The crackdown on homeless humans in DC was in the news this morning:

In 2009 we took AmTrak to Washington, DC to do the usual tourist thing and visit my neice who worked there as a lawyer for the USDA.

I took a lot of touristy photos, but, struck by the number of homeless people, I also took photos of some of them. My belief, as a street photographer who tries to capture candid photos of interesting people in ways that tell a story is that sometimes sharing an important message transcends someone’s privacy. I had no plan to do anything with these photos. They were a part of the trip I wanted to memoralize for myself.

The ethics of taking candid photos of people in public places is an ongoing debate with a case to be made on both sides. Consider this: 

“The ethics of street photography involve balancing the legal right to take photos in public with the moral responsibility to respect individuals' privacy and feelings. Photographers should consider the impact of their work on subjects and strive to approach their craft with empathy and respect.” (Reference 1, Reference 2)

Now it is 16 years later and finally I believe I have a story to tell worth using the photos I took. 

My intention is to show that the people Trump is treating as less than human are in fact living, breathing human beings. They have life stories. They have feelings. 

I took several photos of the man shown above in Union Station, but the one that I captured serendipitously conveyed something I think is important. Here it is again:

There are two people in the photo. One is the homeless man and the other a woman walking by. As is typical in such situations, the passerby doesn’t look at the homeless person. They are non—people to so many. By chance I had my camera set on a slow speed so, because she is moving, instead of freezing her image, she is seen as blurred. I think this is what makes this photo compelling.

Below are the rest of photos I took of homeless people. As I said above, each of them has a life story, a journey, that led them to being homeless. That there are so many heartless people who want to treat them as disposable items to be trucked away so they are out of sight and out of mind is one of the saddest aspects of what this country, this so-called Christian nation, has become. 

You can click the images below to enlarge them. You can tell by the marble in the background that some of them were taken in front of Union Station.

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Homelessness: Daytime nightmare about to unfold in Portland

 

Public domain, Creative Commons..

By Hal Brown, MSW, Retired psychotherapist

This is a classic case of municipal decision makers putting the cart before the horse, only in this case the cart is a shopping cart. A ban of daytime camping just enacted in Portland, Oregon may make daytime scenes like this (above) more common.

Homelessness is multifaceted problem but not a particularly complex one to remedy. My intention isn't to elaborate on how to solve the problem. It should be a no-brainer. It certainly isn't the harsh measure of forcing people currently living in tents to wander the streets during the day in the hopes that this will force them to live in approved housing. 

Aside from the fact that there are not enough places for them to live, there are reasons that have to be addressed as to why those who don't avail themselves of such housing make the choice to live on the streets.

Here's the disturbing news for everyone who calls a tent their home in Portland, OR, and anyone with a modicum of empathy for them:

Click above to read article

I have a Portland (Oregon) street address although I really live a few hundred feet from the line between the city a suburban town that is on the terminus of one of the light rail lines from downtown. Low income passes are free or cost as little as $3. This is only relevant because Portland is banning daytime camping. More people will be able to head outside of city limits to find places to live on the street.

This may result in more homeless people deciding to set up camps in the town closest to me where we don't have resources to serve their needs.  Here's another article:

‘Inevitable’: Portland City Council passes daytime camping ban

The ban requires people living in tents to pack up and vacate between 8 AM and 8PM. It will go into effect on July 7th. Talk about a very unhappy Independence Day for the numerous people who live in tents within the city limits of Portland.

I appreciate Portland, the western part of Oregon, and our state government for being very progressive in numerous ways. Unfortunately, I am ashamed for the city because they are taking this inhumane and draconian measure before there are enough solutions in place so nobody has to be ejected from their tents to pay a fine they can't afford, and possibly end up in jail. Lest anyone forget, these tents are their homes and when in clusters they are their neighborhoods.

Update: 

People living on the streets, business owners have mixed reactions to Portland daytime camping ban