Whether or not I deemed my life boring or unimportant for the past 2 year, Im not sure but I'm firing up the ol' blog.
Lots of things to catch up on that I dont really want to catch you up on. sorry? I'll give you a condensed bullet version...
-Im done with provo. (hail the conquering hero, da daa da daaaa da da daaaaa!)
-I've moved to Washington for a Job
-I live by myself in a little 4 plex with some questionable human beings, who range from a sexually frustrated 40 year old single mother to a nice retired drunk accountant who sounds like Mick Jagger if Mick were to bite off his tongue in the middle of singing Dancing in the Streets with David Bowie. yep that awesome. mind you this would be with a bloody tongueless mouth.
-I have reached a celestial gear ratio on my single speed. This is paramount news because there are a lot more hills in Washington. I should put this at the top...
-I spend my days(while not working) riding my bike. sitting in coffee shops using there internet because of said sexually frustrated single mom that lives above me whom I pay for internet forgets to pay her bill, reading, and taking photos/ interviewing homeless people. Which is what brings me to the source of my new found desire to blog.
For the past few years now, as I have traveled I have seen a wide array of people living on the streets. From tiny thai men living in tents on top of a metal roof down an ally in Bangkok to legless men in Antigua Guatemala who sweeps the walk ways to former Anthropology students who started out living ont he street as a social experiment then ending up liking it. All over i've seen them and always struggled with helping them out with money or straight up giving them food. From Sheva knows where I was instilled at a young age the value of work, in whatever form. Handing these people cash, to me, always seemed like I was enabling them to continue living in a degenerated state, or that they might go out and buy booz..
About a year ago I decided that I would make these guys work for my help. First I fired up a small manufacturing plant that specialized in cat sweaters. Needless to say that went belly up. After recovering from the bankruptcy I decided to try something new. I would take these guys out to Lunch and in return I would be able to Photograph and interview them. I've been doing this just for fun and a chance to talk to some people with a dramatically different outlook on life.
Needless to say I have made quite the collection, and I figured it would be interesting and informative to share some of these guys stories.
I'll start you with Mr. George Streets. Although I would love to give him an entire post all to himself, I cannot. Unfortunately from either PTWS (Post Traumatic War Syndrom) or a hell of a lot of drugs he wasn't able to communicate much besides his military ID# (64-11-18-904-8) and when I asked him why he chose Spokane to live, the only word other than those number he said was "Heaven".
Mr. George Streets. f/2.8 s/50 iso/3200
So, without further adieu, I introduce you to Ken & Eddy:
Ma & Pa. f/2.8 s/80 iso/1600
I met these two while riding around downtown Spokane. I've never felt more at home under the I-90 than I have with these two. Ken is 43 and is the folliclely blessed male. Ken is his 64 year old lover. Momma always said marry up.
What really floors me is the concept of love with all of these people I meet. Here are two (loaded statement) good looking homeless people who are sleeping on the corner of Division st. and I-90 with a homeless shelter not two blocks away. When talking with them they tell me about there lives. They live in what I will loosely call a commune. I use that term because there are probably about 9 homeless people all living in this little area, and each one has a job from look out to camp cleaner to the Mother and Father figure- Ken & Eddy.
What makes them the mom and pop of this little rag tag gang that could easily be mistaken for a bad parody of Lord of the Flies. Is that When ever someone is in trouble or having a particularly hard time walking from inebriation they are the ones who take care of them and nurse them back to health. Needless to say this is a full time job. They stick together and watch out for each other. While I was there I met a gentleman who was kicked out of his girlfriends apartment with no place to go. Its an amazing thing to see 5 homeless dudes scouring dumpsters to give to this well dressed down on his luck exboyfriend with no place to go but the streets. With there help I would like to believe that he slept fairly warm despite the balmy 20 degree weather we were experiencing at the time.
Camp Division St. f/3.5 s/50 iso/2000
They showed me everything, where they slept, other places they would camp. Good places to make love with out being seen, profitable places to panhandle. Through this all what struck me was the sense of community even with in this small group of people. I was fascinating to see how naturally we fall into innate comfort zones. How all these have, at the very basis of love as the foundation. Even on the streets where there thought process follows such a different line than mine. Where as I am thinking of what to do when i get off work they are thinking of how they can stay warm and where they are going to get there next meal. at the very core of our foundation we are all alike in our needs, we just go about much different ways of fulfilling those needs.
Eddy/64. f/2.8 s/50 iso/2000
Ken 43. f/3.5 s/80 iso/1600
I'll stick to skype.
Thats it for now. I feel like I drowned on for too long- for me it is incredible to meet these people and sharing there stories feels so mediocre when I write it.
Next time I write I will fill you in on Brian- The burning man.
adios
