Hollywood Homeless

Before Christmas I posted 4 pictures (all portraits) with no explanation as to what they were about or why I had taken them.

These are the shots - Karen, Lizzie, Paul and Camille.

The common theme is that each of the subjects is (or was then) homeless. Not in the sense of sleeping on the streets, but either living in a hostel or otherwise of NFA. They've all got drink or drugs problems. Or both. And more. The shots were taken as part of a project called Hollywood Homeless. The idea was to give the participants a camera each and show them that they could create something to be proud of - an exhibition of photos seen through their eyes.

Today, the first prints went up on the railings outside St Luke's (The Bombed Out Church). More will be added over the next couple of weeks and the exhibition proper opens on 26 Feb.

Its been brilliant to get to know the participants, to hear their stories and to help in some small way towards getting their lives back on track. Its not the answer to everything. Most of them still have serious issues. But since the project started, a couple of them have managed to get a permanent place. I saw one of the girls the other day (not one of the above) and she was beaming as she was telling me about her new flat.

If you can stand it, have a look at a normal day in the life of George. (He's seen the video and was happy for it to go on YouTube. He wanted people to see what his life is like).