colour of your soul

beavis

i came across soneone's flickr photo album on mr wang's blog. there wasn't any comments, any pictures, just a link to his photo album with a disturbing image of a homeless man with blood on his arms. his photo album features a collection of homeless people, frm different parts of country, with different stories to tell. these are ppl who have e life's most interesting and heart wrenching stories, yet these are e ppl most forgotten. these are e survivors, these are e ppl who are e strongest of us all.


If you're photographing in color you show the color of their clothes - if you use black and white, you will show the color of their soul. ~Author Unknown

tom stone is a documentary photographer known for his portraits of people living along the edges of society. his photography shares perspective with the work of dorothea lange, richard avedon, diane arbus and sebastião salgado.

"i photograph people who skirt the edges of things; people whose connection to the broader flow is murky or obscured. mistaken as more, less or different than they are; they aren’t really seen and don’t really belong. that’s everyone sometimes; but some more often. i try to establish a line for a moment. i hope to connect. and i see the most beautiful and the most heartbreaking things."

- tom stone

Keeping Faith

(homeless woman, sf, 12/12/06)

the day is unsettling. it's cold and it's wet; and the mist is stubborn and seems to hover; only disturbed as huddled masses hurry through.

robin is not well. a bullet still rests near her spine. and she still feels pain. she needs more treatment; but doesn't get it.

she rustles through a large trash bag of something and bends by her cart overflowing with nothing. a man stands beside and waits. then leaves.

robin's sons visited her for thanksgiving. both of them; one about 22 and the other about 35. they came from sonoma. her younger son came with a bible and a fine set of clothes. her older son came to stay.

she says that all she wants in the world is to spend time with her family and for them to be happy and to be well.

she hasn't seen her younger son since about thanksgiving. and now she's been told he just got shot in the mission. he didn't want her to know; but she found out. yet she can't find him. she tried the hospital where they bring gunshot victims from the mission. nothing.

she is visibly shaken. "how can two people in the same family be shot like this?" says, it's like the city is trying to tear us apart.

her older son came to visit earlier than his younger brother and has been staying with her on the street. he's a "builder." she tells me proudly of the homes he's worked on.

robin is originally from marin (not sonoma). she spent her early years there in a catholic convent or such. they were planning to move to marin together. she would get off methadone. it was real nice.

but "he got real ugly" and mean a few nights ago, she says. and she hasn't seen him since. he just vanished.

says it's hard. says she doesn't know what to do.

"but i must have faith" she says and seems to swallow

taken frm stoneth