A Homeless Man Sleeping with His Most Cherished Possession

Paul Valley: 21st Jun 2008 - 17:35 GMT

If you know some one that is Homeless like this PLEASE TELL THEM About the RedCross Or Salvation Army in Milwaukee they will help!

joey: 21st Jun 2008 - 18:02 GMT

this photo speaks volumes!! probably reading job 17: 11-13

POWcityblog: 23rd Jun 2008 - 01:27 GMT

we kinda have a problem with this. see, if we had a substance/shelter problem we wouldn't appreciate having our picture sneakily taken while we were passed out & then have it plastered all over the internet. there oughta be a policy around here Leroy

Anon: 23rd Jun 2008 - 02:13 GMT

Posting it on one blog isn't exactly "plastering it all over the internet", you know. If someone doesn't want photos taken of them when they pass out, then they should consider not passing out in public. There's not much of a gray area there.

POWcityblog: 23rd Jun 2008 - 21:20 GMT

you make a valid point about the size of the audience seeing this picture but the main point is that there there is a dignity/permission issue here. LiveJournal Urban Decay had a huge fuss a few years ago over something similar - a picture of a homeless lady in the former USSR. it caused quite a stink with strong feelings either side.

Anon: 23rd Jun 2008 - 23:20 GMT

Anything done in public is public domain, and international law, as a whole, is of this mindset, both legally and socially. It's quite simple, actually. Don't want someone taking photos of it? Then don't do it in public. By forfeiting your privacy, you forfeit any right to complain about it. And frankly, any third-party argument about it, either here or on LiveJournal or anywhere else, is rather moot, as neither you nor I took this photo or are the subject of it. In such a situation, such a point becomes largely rhetorical and argumentative. To speak for the subject of the above photo is merely projection on your part, and of your own opinions.

And if you feel passionate enough about this topic to continue this devils-advocacy, I remind you that there are much bigger fish to fry in regards to privacy, and homeless rights within the public domain. If you truly care, I urge you to focus your efforts on more worthy and prescient social violations against humanity. Police brutality, perhaps, or maybe copyright infringement or human rights violations carried out by governments against their citizens.

We complain about photos of homeless (who will never see this, or likely even care i they did), but just sit there and smile complacently as the Governments tap our phones, hold military prisoners, indefinitely, without filing charges, and perpetrate countless schemes against the general public that definitely make a surreptitious photo of some random person pale in comparison.

I honestly mean no offense at all, and appreciate your open mind about this topic, but we do definitely need to pick our battles in today's world, and I'm not certain that the tree you're barking up is worth it, in light of the bigger picture of the world at large.

EvilGentleman: 24th Jun 2008 - 00:58 GMT

To me, it would depend heavily on the particulars of the location where the photo was shot. If the man in the photo was in the midst of a well-frequented public space, then public domain should apply.

If this photo was taken by the back of a building in an alcove accessible only by an alleyway or whatnot, then perhaps this man has had his right to privacy violated.

Even if he should happen to be homeless, every person should have the right to have a sanctuary space, where they can let their guard down and be themselves.

But to add a further level of complication, what if the photographer happens to be the primary tenant or the owner of the property where the person is sleeping? Nobody could deny that a person should be free to take whatever photos they like of uninvited trespassers on their property. Otherwise, security cameras would be a rights violation.

But enough of the complex issues surrounding the rights and dignity of the unfortunate people who have fallen through the rents torn in the fabic of a society's safety net. Let us look at the bigger picture, as it were.

This is a beautiful, poignant photo of hope surviving through the most desperate times of a man who could just as easily be any one of us, should the fates so choose.

It is one of the best photos I have ever seen on citynoise, and this debate we are having desperately needs to be heard. This photo helps raise awareness of the homeless in a manner that humanizes them, so that we can better empathize with them.

There are definitely controversies about this photo, but unless the subject himself launches a lawsuit, I say this photo should stay.

Best Of, without a doubt.

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 24th Jun 2008 - 02:46 GMT

If it were me, I'd be sleeping on Snowcrash, by Neal Stephenson.

Rob: 1st Aug 2008 - 20:51 GMT

What good is a freaking bible going to do for that unfortunate bum?!?!?

DEE: 17th Aug 2008 - 23:55 GMT

Are we sure this is a bible? It could be a dictionary.

Woo123: 17th Dec 2008 - 15:12 GMT

This is an amazing picture and one that will always stick in my mind.
I have been doing some research on Leroy Skalstad for a University piece, and I would like to inform 'POWcityblog' of an interview Leroy Skalstad took part in, here is an section of the interview regarding the above photo-

"In 1992, Leroy took a photograph of a young homeless couple. The next year it won a Kodak photo contest in Parade magazine, and Leroy knew that he was on to a good thing. He mentioned that some people felt that he may be taking advantage of his subjects, but he feels he is doing them justice. He always asks for permission to take a photo, and believes that it would be wrong to take a candid photo of someone in such a particular situation. At one point he took a photo of a man asleep with a bible, but later felt guilty about it. He eventually found the man at a meal site that he often volunteers with and asked the man for his permission to keep the photo. The man agreed, “but if he didn’t, I would have just tossed it,” said Leroy."

I feel this will clear everything up.
Leroy is trying to do his best to help and support the homeless as he was once homeless himself, so maybe you should help him in his effort instead of questioning his morals and standards.

Full interview available -
http://www.collectivelens.com/blog/2007/08/26/the-homeless-photographer/

steelisreal: 17th Dec 2008 - 22:25 GMT

needs more contrast, and how do I know it is his most cherished possession?

AP: 21st Jan 2009 - 22:37 GMT

You mean the joint laying in the fold of the Bible? If I was homeless, that would be my most cherished possession, too!

kate3lakes: 8th Feb 2009 - 01:57 GMT

I'm very grateful to Woo123 for taking note of Leroy Skalstad's respectful approach to photographing his subjects. He's quite well known both in photographic circles and among advocates for the homeless – and I know of no one familiar with his work who considers it anything but compelling and world-changing. He's just as capable of taking a breathtaking portrait of a smiling six-year-old girl in a soup kitchen as he is of documenting the psychic dissolution that is so often the companion of homelessness. All irreverent hilarity notwithstanding, Leroy deserves admiration for his willingness to bring America's comfortable citizens face to face with a kind of human pain society appears determined to ignore.

Agamoto: 21st Apr 2009 - 13:38 GMT

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." -- Napoleon

Mercurialohearn : 21st Apr 2009 - 13:40 GMT

the editorial comment in the headline is repugnant to me and insulting to the man in the photograph.

you and i both know that his most cherished possession is probably his bottle of night train.