City - London State - WESTMINSTER Country - Thailand
About
Those who live on the street suffer from many aspects but one of the worse of these is loneliness. When I am out 'Scrimmaging' (scouring for images) I spend quite a lot of my time talking with those who live on the street about all manner of things yet mostly more than anything else about why/how they got to the situation where they now find themselves, Substance dependency is one reason/cause (alcohol, Crack-Cocaine, Cocaine, Amphetamine, (Speed) Heroin to name but a few is another. Mental health also contributes where the subject is/are incapable of looking after themselves and falls through society's safety nets resulting in them ending on the streets to fend for themselves which means they eat from the bins and run the risk of contracting poisoning or worse T.B, (It's on the increase here in the U.K!) Institutionalisation is another factor that affects the homeless, many come from orphanages/children?s homes/prisons/detention centres/psychiatric institutions and the armed forces and for many the transit from one to the lives we are familiarized with can prove too much for them again resulting with homelessness.
It is so easy to judge people by appearance yet if you or I were to change our attire and adorn grimy rags many would quickly condemn us for appearance alone without any thought to who or what we are on the inside and it is for this reason that quite a few of the people I meet see themselves as sub-citizens, in Thailand people believe that if you are homeless/destitute then it is your fault due to not fulfilling your expectations in your previous life or for giving out too much bad karma.
For those caught up in the homeless trap begging is a means to which many choose as a way to survive some beggars namely the professional ones (almost in all cases are not homeless!!!) make more money than the average workers (around £80 - £300 per day) where as the real homeless who beg get around £10 - £40 per day almost in all cases those who beg are doing so to feed one habit or another ? with the homeless it?s drinking/cannabis/and occasionally heroin, and for the professionals it?s life style or hard drugs. There are many ways that one can increase the amount of money they earn, they are:
Pets ? people may be reluctant to give for a person but take pity on animals
Disability ? wheelchairs, crutches, white sticks & dark glasses are a few props that professional beggars adopt to con their punters.
Children ? it is illegal to be on the streets in the U.K with children as they are considered vulnerable; however there are gangs of professional (aggressive) beggars operating that use them, in many cases it?s not even their children but those of friends and family this is a favoured tactic used by refugees.
The point I am making is this the genuine homeless in most cases do not beg they choose to live on the streets as a result of a life change situation unless of course they have mental health issues when again they almost never beg. This leaves around 75% who are begging to fund themselves for a variety of reasons While the true homeless are getting the bad end of a bargain.
In London as with almost all cities and large towns there are many places where the homeless can eat/wash & shave and get medical attention free of charge they can also get temporary accommodation if they can prove themselves homeless normally in the way where an outreach worker comes and sees where they are sleeping on the streets. From these centres they can get help with looking for permanent accommodation, help with education & training with the view of returning to work. If you are going to give money first ask yourself this! What is going to be done with it, is it going to help in the long term, is it helping them positively and if the answer is no and you still want to help look into the homeless centres and see just how much they do for the cause and perhaps you will find a more fitting cause and this way those who have been finding an easy ride at the expense of the homeless will have to find an other alternative.
Hi Hugh: Very good work! I also feel pain when looking this kind of situation, but I just wanted to refresh a few words of Fred: "they are more content with life than those who are in the upper levels of the society". We have to LEARN about them. When the life do not depend of the "things".
Cheers and many thanks for your work and your comment, Jose
hi hugh, the images in your portfolio are not new to me, i see them everyday on my way to my office... i can almost feel their sadness and pain. these images always make me ponder on life.
though i believe that some are given better opportunities that the others, i also believe that life is just crazy sometimes. if we've done our part but still we are in a situation where we do not want to be, then we should just accept it and go on with life because its just the way it is.
contentment is not in having everything but in being satisfied with whatever you have. sometimes its amazing to learn that some "street people" are more content with life than those who are in the upper levels of the society. at the end of the day, it won't matter how much one made in his lifetime but how he spend each and everyday that god has given him.
Lena, My heart and wishes go out to you and I have faith that you will come through a more stronger person (all of you!) bad situations are inevitable and are tantamount so that we can appreciate the real treasures in life, Ours & our families health, a warm meal and a bed, and the support of our nearest and dearests in dark times, materials are luxuries that in most cases we can live without, I believe in the saying, 'In life, sometimes what appears less is actually more'.
Lena, My heart and wishes go out to you and I have faith that you will come through a more stronger person (all of you!) bad situations are inevitable and are tantamount so that we can appreciate the real treasures in life, Ours & our families health, a warm meal and a bed, and the support of our nearest and dearests in dark times.
Very powerful. You are 100 percent correct about the homeless. We are a town of 65k people and have a large population for a small town. I came from a city of 250k..yet I see more here. I work as a nurse in a correctional facility here. Many of the same people we see on the street are in and out of jail. While they are incarcerated, they dry out, are fed, and look much better. As soon as they are released, they go right back. It's a never ending cycle. One female, who we knew very well, was murdered last year. She was mentally ill. For those, I truly feel sympathy. Our newspaper did an in depth look at the homeless population here and interviewed many. Hopefully it will raise awareness.
I was reading your about, Hugh, after visiting your outstanding folio. All your pictures have the same characteristic: high-level photographic skill and a deep sense of humanity. Coming from a country where 5 million children are considered miserable (no income at all), where thousands boys and girls live on the streets with no family of any kind; I can fully understand the meaning of your work and of your images. I will come back. There is a lot to see and to comment under your name. I am glad I found you. Marília
It's an excellent shot, Hugh. I never understood this kind of people. We all have not easy live. My husband lost his job 3 years ago, I was laid off too, 6 month ago. Our unemployment finised. Now we totally don't have any sourse of incom. But I know for sure, we never go to street as these people. I hope economical will better and we both will found a job, even we not so young (59 and 54)we must work. I am sorry about this people, I think they just sick, normal people can't handle such degradation. Thank you. Sincerely, Lena
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{K:88111} 6/14/2004
