The Face of Homelessness

Over the past several years I have coordinated a massive winter drive to provide the Nashville homeless community with critical supplies to survive the winter. By partnering with two 501c3 organizations we are able to find the people living in camps and determine their immediate needs. I then create an Amazon wish list and take it to social media where people from around the world send me heaters, propane, tents, tarps, blankets, sleeping bags and many more items which are then distributed back to those in need. 

These years have given me new insight and perspective into not only homelessness but systemic poverty, mental illness, PTSD and a myriad of other issues that contribute to homelessness. In 2018 I began a series of portraits called “The Face of Homelessness” where I carried a white backdrop into the camps for head & shoulder portraits of the people living there. The backdrop takes them out of their environment and ask the viewer to only see the human being in the image. I then ask them to tell me in their own words who they are, how they got there and what they need. 

In 2019 I was approached by Mary Catherine Anderson, a Stanford University student who is studying homelessness to create a film that focuses primarily on the resilience and kindness that is prevalent among the homeless community. In this film we are following several persons living with homelessness for the course of a year to see how their lives unfold in that time.