Homeless Circumstances and Visual Depictions of Struggling Subjects

September 22, 2016

Photography, film, and other forms of visual art have supported a fascination with capturing struggling subjects. While it presents the world in all its variety, depicting human conditions not always visible to those in the most privileged of situations, it has also been critiqued for exploitation and exoticization of “the Other.” By acknowledging this critique we are allowing for a deeper exploration of why this photography carries meaning to both the photographers that take these pictures and present them to the world, and the way this media is consumed by the viewer. Homeless photography is one of many forms which use imagery to show the life circumstances of subjects in a particular walk of life. By briefly examining the situation of homelessness in the United States, photography projects that have focused on it, and opinions of this art form—we can discuss the critique more fully and begin to unpack the ways these photos depict subjects as a form of conscious social representation.

Homelessness is a social occurrence that is multifaceted and difficult to associate with any one causal factor. Simply put, homelessness occurs when a household is not able to acquire or maintain housing, and this can occur for many reasons. Some of the most common reasons include financial hardship, disability, medical conditions, drug/alcohol addiction, and personal choice—among many others. In places where homelessness is most common, such as urban spaces, the social phenomenon is closely related to the cost of living, and the overall ability to acquire housing. According to the National Alliance to end Homelessness, as of January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in the United States. Approximately 37% of these individuals were considered apart of a family group, while 63% were alone. As such, many national homelessness projects are focused on family, youth, and those with Veteran status.

Many photography projects have focused on homelessness in the United States, such as Chuck Jine’s work on the Chicago Homeless, Steve Huff’s series entitled “My Homeless Project,” Martin Schoeller’s photography of LA’s homeless population, or unbelievable “I Photograph the Homeless by Becoming One Of Them” by Lee Jeffries. Just as these incredible photographers decided to focus their attention on photographing homeless populations in the United States, so too did Jimmy Fishbein undertake this project as a photography student in Santa Barbra—one of the first “out of the box” social photography projects that he did in his career.

When Fishbein was in Santa Barbara for photography school, it was really the first time he was living and experiencing life outside of the Midwest, and as a part of a school-related project he became immediately interested in the homeless community within this pristine beach-front city. He claims that he was taken-back at the sheer number of homeless individuals in this space—in a large city, it is easier to understand that there would be a significant homeless population (like I mentioned above, the pricing of housing and poverty/unemployment rates alone can be enough to influence this). However, he realized during the execution of this personal project that the environment is much fairer than somewhere like Chicago in winter, for those living without a home. Many homeless individuals do try to live in these small beach cities for environmental reasons.

Fishbein interviewed people old and young, and stated that the circumstances of the homelessness itself varied greatly. He spoke with many different individuals and took photos over the course of several months, from young people who claimed they just wanted to “live freely”, to older adults who were disabled veterans. Like most of the photography projects I mentioned above, Fishbein claims that “you have to be in it” spending time in the communities you work in, and really developing a sense of what life is like for these individuals—trying to capture their story, visually. Thus, it might be said that photography projects, which depict struggling subjects, can be divided into two categories: projects that listen to the participant’s life stories and try to capture the realities of everyday life, and those that purely use the subject for artistic interest. One is a social project, and one is a project which, intentionally or unintentionally, exploits the subject without consent—without true understanding.

Photography helps to demonstrate the struggles, characters, and emotions of individuals who are living on the streets. Some of these projects develop out of activism, while others develop out of independent interest and the desire to tell a story. Regardless of how it emerges, one thing is for sure; looking at these portraits creates a reaction and evokes a desire to assign value or meaning within the viewer.

Indyweek.com put out an article a few years back on how people “react” to seeing homeless individuals on the street. The author took a photo of a homeless individual, asleep, and then wrote about her ethical dilemma regarding whether or not to post and develop content around it. As an anthropologist, I feel strongly that participants in research, photography, or other projects of representation should absolutely give informed consent before they are used as a “subject.” Most of the photographers I’ve cited in this piece, Fishbein included, did gain consent from their photography participants—since they were awake and engaged in the act of being photographed. Many of these photographers also spent a great deal of time in the communities they worked. The author, Lisa Sorg, does mention that legally individuals can be photographed in public spaces without consent (whether or not this should be the case is up for discussion), and that her intent was to capture an image that would promote social justice:

“People need to be reminded that the homeless live among us; they are among society's the most vulnerable people. The way this man was sitting, his arms tucked inside his sweatshirt, his knees together and legs splayed—and the fact that he was sleeping—shows that vulnerability. From an artistic standpoint, I found him beautiful. I did not want to exoticize or romanticize him, just to show him honestly. Most people are beautiful when they're sleeping, and he is no different.”

It is not my goal to pass a value judgment here, although I personally would not support taking photos of sleeping individuals without consent as a researcher. Sorg does make a reasonable point about giving the “unseen” visibility, or creating visual depictions of vulnerable subjects for the world to see. Yet, his vulnerability was not something he agreed to have captured or put on display for the world to see. Unlike awake and consenting participants in these other projects, he is purely the object of display, with the artist’s meaning placed onto his image. His own perspective as a subject is not considered. It is possible that he did not feel vulnerable sleeping in that position whatsoever, and that rather, it was his nightly routine which has become so commonplace that he actually experiences a certain amount of comfort. I am speculating here, but without speaking to him and telling his story, we can never really know what is truly being depicted in this photograph.

The final question I want to provoke is, what do these images do? Why are we captivated by suffering, struggle, and human experience in photography? It cannot be purely for activist goals—but perhaps to display a range of human possibilities and conditions. In the online environment, photography websites and blogs have the ability to gain more attention than ever, so what does showing a homeless series do? Ultimately, series like these have the ability to display circumstances of the “subject.” Human experiences, however far removed we may be from them, can evoke emotion, and these feelings are embodied in the way we go and treat others in the world. So perhaps all of these projects, sleeping or awake, young or old, urban or beach-town, do have something in common after all—they provide visual depictions of human experience. They show homeless circumstances by capturing refined details of the subjects themselves. These images shine light on places often ignored or unseen, and this can actually allow viewers to acknowledge our connectedness to the world of individuals around us, regardless of condition or location.

By: Megan Melissa Machamer

MA Social Science, University of Chicago

BA Sociocultural Anthropology, UC San Diego

Megan Machamer is a sociocultural anthropologist who develops creative commentary for the Jimmy Fishbein photography blog. Her perspective as a social scientist contributes additional dialogue to stand-along photography and serves as one perspective to evoke thought and conversation upon viewing these photos.

On Four Transgender Women’s Portraits and Historical Transformation

August 24, 2016

Portraits, much like stories, are unique and filled with individual perspectives, expressions, and positions. It is hard to begin to tie together the multitude of experiences and differences that characterize Jimmy Fishbein’s Transgender Portraits series, but here, I am going to try. Four of the transgender women that were photographed and interviewed for the project have many shared experiences, not only because of some similar aspects of gender identity, but also because the four subjects I am choosing to discuss in this post also are over the age of 50. This age cohort grew up and discovered themselves in a time where being transgender was not only much more socially stigmatized, but also not discussed in media, a part of public discourse, and information was just not available generally for those who were discovering this facet of themselves early in life.

This post looks at 4 portrait subjects: Katie (age 77), Susan (age 60), Rachel (age 53), and Audry, Age 65. It attempts to unpack the issues surrounding historical transformation and change for transgender individuals over the course of a few generations—it also looks at themes surrounding coming to terms with identity, and how that itself is related to time and space.

I think it is also important to note upfront that all four of these individuals either have life-long partners of the opposite sex (i.e, female wives that identify as female), or were previously married for an extensive length of time. This is important to mention because their gender identities do not necessarily correlate in any particular way with their sexual preferences. Many of the participants in this project have expressed being fortunate to have a partner who has stuck by them through all of their changes and expressions of their identity over the life course. Of course, this is not always the case, but it is important to conceptualize that many born in this era who have come out as trans have had support in their home and through closer personal networks, when it did not exist for them in the world at large. In discussion of Katie’s transition, her wife was asked about her feelings and her desire to continue being with her after she came out as trans, all she replied was: “Why not? I loved him very very much”. This speaks volumes to the love and admiration of an individual, regardless of identity expression. So while the transgender community did not have the external support that it does today, many had support that was invaluable in their personal lives—these individuals deserve immense recognition.

Further, various organizations came up in the interviews as networks of support for the transgender community in Chicago over the years—notably, The Chicago Gender Society, The Human Rights Campaign, P-FLAG, and other Chicagoland LGBTQ service centers. It is unfortunate to note that in the first 8 months of 2016 19-transgender deaths have been reported. Last year, 21 trans-women were killed—with 7 killed in the first 7 weeks of the year. The four interviewees also brought up the high rates of suicide in the community today as well. Thus, while many of the struggles that the four interviewees discussed in this post highlight the positive changes for today’s transgender youth, there is still great concern for the safety of LGBTQ community members—and it is a concern that all of us should take as incredibly important and relevant.

“I’m getting older and I’m going to die at some point—and I’m going to have an obituary, and somewhere in that obituary I want it to say “trans-activist” because that is who I want to be. ”

— Audry

Discovering One’s Identity

Identity formation begins to happen early-on in an individual’s life. All four of these interviewees told stories of identity and coming to be the person they are today—and all four expressed a desire to explore their own gender identity at an early point of childhood. In discussion with Katie about discovering herself at a young age, in the early 1940’s, she claimed that at 4-5 years old,“I knew it. I knew I wanted to be a girl. I didn’t know why, I didn’t even know the plumbing was any different at that point because I don’t have any sisters. I’d see little girls and think, that’s what I want to be—Not to be dramatic but I remember blowing out my birthday candles around five and thinking, I wish I was a girl—then I remember my mom asking me, ‘oh what did you wish for?’ and I said a bike…”

As Katie aged, she began to come to terms with her gender fluidity, and began to dress as a woman from time to time,“My mom caught me a couple times, but being good Catholics I just made a novena and it all went away…[laughter]…no—really it just made me go deeper in the closet.” All four individuals expressed that they knew quite early-on that they identified, in-part, as female. Susan explained, “I’ve probably always been like this since I can remember, we’re talking all the way back in grammar school…I’ve always had this feeling. I got to do a little here, a little there, but it sure wasn’t accepted way back when.” Audry similarly expressed the early expression of curiosity and gender exploration, “With rare opportunities living in my parents home, I had a sister, and I would borrow her clothes and, do just really quick dress-up things. Of course there was a lot of shame and confusion, because I was like the only person in the world who had this problem. Right now, people have the internet, back then I just had me—and I’m certainly not going to go to my parents and tell them I have this!” Discovery really began for these individuals with the opportunity to dress a certain way—even if it was in secret. This act of dressing in a feminine way began as early as the opportunity presented itself for these individuals, and even if it was a confusing action at the time, it played a central role in discovering their identity and personhood.

Generational Differences for Transgender Individuals

One of the reoccurring themes of these four interviews was differences for young people in the community now, compared to when they were growing up and constructing their own identities as trans-women. Susan discussed this at length, and it is worth highlighting her specific thoughts and opinions here:

“I’m so jealous of these young people, not in a bad way, but—they don’t realize how easy they got it. They don’t realize how difficult things were. There was no information and if you tried to get information, you were deemed weird—a pervert—you were sick. Work, I mean, they would have crucified you. They would have just fired you. They would have found a reason to fire and get rid of you! You really had to do a lot of burying. There might have been an opportunity where you could steal some of your wife’s stuff because she was gone…but I wouldn't have been able to shave my legs. You can’t understand what a difference it is—I never could do that”

“Some of these people get upset at older people, they shouldn't get upset! It was a different era they came up in. Just as I came up in a different era and you've gotta cut me some slack—because, now you young people. It’s a totally different ballgame for you. Every once in a while we get a couple of young girls that come for a meeting and —its like, oh you're too old, too boring, you're too conservative, you don’t go out, you don’t do this. They've got so many places, they are so accepted. They’ve probably got girls that accept them. Do you know how many of us would kill to have the right woman to accept us?”

“The young people, you've got a choice now. You got a choice before you make commitments to somebody else. You've got a choice in finding yourself in the world. You've got a choice where you can actually go to work, and you can be either/or and nobody is going to say anything”—Susan

It is clear that there are some generational differences in being transgender in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s and being transgender in 2016, yet, as I mentioned in the beginning of this article, transgender deaths are still a reality and safety is an ongoing concern. While there may be heightened awareness, many more resources, acceptance, and advocacy for the transgender community, we also don't want to over glorify the “easiness” for the transgender youth of today—it is still an incredibly difficult and brave transformation to make in one’s life and I am certain all four of the transgender women in this article would agree.

“People put animals to death more humanely than what happens to our people—Caitlyn Jenner, like her or don’t like her, she did such a service by bringing it out there” —Katie

Katie has been involved in bringing awareness to the transgender community for a long time, speaking at top universities as a guest lecturer and even being featured in the Chicago Reader. While Katie’s wife and children know about her being transgender, many of her lifelong friends do not know, "My kids know about me, but my grandkids don’t need to—at our age. It works fine.” Similarly, Susan’s grandchildren also do not know about her transgender identity “grandpa as grandma, can you imagine?”. These four transgender women only dress up for certain occasions going out, and spend part of the time with their family or old friends as men. Katie, Susan, Rachel, and Audry all lead lives in-part as men, especially around family and longterm friends. This was something that they all linked to the era that they grew up in, linking it to “acceptance” of identity and gender fluidity now compared to when they were discovering their own individuality during formative years.

Audry commented, “There is no possibility that people are going to throw me a party for telling them…People aren't going to be happy, people are going to have to get educated, and—yes, it’s going to hurt—there is going to be loss, there is always loss when this happens, some people just won’t be able to deal with it. The important thing for me is that, I’ve stopped hiding it, this is who I am.”

Historical Transformation

These interviews highlight that change has certainly taken place over the past 50+ years for the transgender community. There are many more organizations, online resources, social agents, and public representations than there were a short time ago. While this community exposure and advocacy has done wonderful things for transgender individuals, we are no where near close to the end of the fight for equality and safety for these community members. Acceptance and comfort with identity starts first in the home with one’s self and the closest people around—but it is important that safe spaces exist outside of that. The transformation that these four individuals have endured over their lifetime has contributed to their own desire for advocacy and involvement in the city of Chicago. Jimmy is thrilled to have photographed their portraits, and consequently, we are excited to make a small contribution for the advocacy of this community through the Transgender Portrait Blog series.

By: Megan Melissa Machamer

MA Social Science, University of Chicago

BA Sociocultural Anthropology, UC San Diego

Transgender Portrait Series PART I: Transitions and School Board Gender Politics, Tyler’s Perspective

August 04, 2016

Jimmy Fishbein’s personal photography projects capture individuality in a larger social context—especially by capturing Chicago’s population in space and time. One of his favorite personal projects has been the Transgender Portrait series, in which he has captured the lives of eleven individuals to-date through photos and videos.