For most of us, encountering a homeless person can be anything from annoying to inconsequential, to angering, to heartbreaking. But how often do we consider what the life of a homeless person might be like?
Many people have never encountered a homeless person. These people are fortunate to not have this experience. On the contrary, many of us have seen or dealt with it first-hand. Michael Pharaoh's "The Homeless of L.A” photo gallery is a portfolio of portraits of homeless citizens in the city of Los Angeles. Photographer Michael Pharaoh took photos of eight homeless individuals to capture their story in a unique way. Of these individuals, each photo characterizes a variety of different ethnicity, religions, ways of life, and unique stories. Although these stories are not shared with us, viewers can make their own opinion on how each person came about to living on the streets from referencing their facial expressions, eyes, and body language.
The photo gallery made me feel a hurricane of emotions. Everywhere from sadness for the people in the photographs, to anger that their situation is out of my control no matter how much I wish to help them. I feel like social media depicts the homeless as lazy and unmotivated because of the situation they are in. However, in my opinion, it is so much more than that. Some people simply cannot help the fact they are on the streets. There’s so much more than what meets the eyes and people choose to see the worst in people way too often.
The portrait that really stuck out to me was the fifth photo in the gallery. This person stood out to me because, for the most part, he looks like a normal man who has a family, and a job and is doing okay in life. He looks average. I was shocked to see such an average-looking man in this gallery. When most people think of homeless people, they think long, grown out and dirty hair. Or ripped clothing with holes and tears all over. This man looks the opposite in my opinion. Although the portrait is only from the chest up, he looks normal.
With Los Angeles, California’s population at almost four million people, thirteen thousand of which are homeless, this man was chosen to be photographed by Michael Pharaoh. But why this man? As I stated before, this man does not meet the “norm” physical appearance that we casually identify as the “homeless look.” He has a cleaner and more put together look than we assume all homeless people identify under. I believe Pharaoh included this man in his gallery to express that there’s not a specific “look” for homeless people. It can happen to anyone from any background or way of life.
There is no definition, no norm, and no story that can identify exactly what “homelessness” is. There are different backgrounds and ways of life for every individual affected by this. Michael Pharaoh captured eight individuals photos and told their story through them in a unique visual manner.
To view Michael Pharaoh's photo gallery, you can here.
