Please look at him; PLEASE READ & please comment!
Prier de lui regarder; de lire (si tu puisses) & de laisser un commentaire!
Por favor, olhe pra ele,leia tudo (se puderes) e deixe um comentário!
Christmas Is Coming, Time is Running Out
I heard on the French radio this morning that today is the International Day for the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man. I wonder what that means.
This is the strongest photograph I have ever taken.
I am sure about that.
If it were not, then why would it have caused me so much emotional reaction? Why does it choke the breath in my throat? Why do I see it in my mind endlessly and do not even need to look at it anymore, as it is always with me – every single disgusting detail?
I implore you/je t’implore/por favor, leave a comment/écris un commentaire/deixe um comentário/dejame tus pensamentos!
This photo, taken on December 8th 2005, has haunted me since I first saw it on the computer screen, which was manifestly different to what my eyes saw when I pressed down on the camera’s shutter.
I have read in various places recently viewers’ appreciation of Bob, ex-Barcelona DP and one of his trademark photographic techniques – the shot from the ground looking up.
Well, this photo is a variant on that technique. It is invaluable when the situation calls for maximum tact and discretion. My camera stays semi-concealed, in my hand, down by my side as low as thigh-level. People do not generally expect to be photographed from there; their mind tells them that photos are taken from the face, from a box in front of the eyes.
I turn a corner, I see a worn, dishevelled man in a wheel-chair, his dog on his lap, his ‘Portugal’ cap open in his hand, waiting for coins, I see the look of resignation, almost despair, in his eyes. I feel obliged to shoot, without stopping, without knowing if there will be any record of this sight.
When I see the product of that click 3 hours later, I am stunned.
18 months of seeing the results of this technique has taught me that these photos speak – sometimes scream, like here – of a very different reality. Subjectively, I often see them as a deeper reality, a truer reality, a more real reality. Things the eyes do not see, particularly if they don’t want to see. A 1000th of a second passes inconceivably fast, yet it can last for eternity.
After all, what is reality? And what is the point of “photo”? “Camera”?
What my eyes could not possibly have taken in is frozen forever: to the left, one man hurrying by; far more chilling, the poster in the window of one of Portugal’s major banks behind the beggar. He had positioned himself on this corner of Rossio Square, probably because it is such a good strategic place on such a day.
I am certain he had no idea of the poster behind him. For those of you who do not know Portuguese, I will translate: “How Do You Want to Live Tomorrow?”
Like me? Like us? Like them? Like him?
I was right to take this photo.
I am right to publish it.
You are welcome to disagree……….
Yes, our city is gloriously, enchantlingly pretty at Christmas time. December 8th is a national holiday and the downtown fills with families eager to spend and see all the lights, take in the atmosphere.
And there among them, also, are the EXCLUDED….
This picture has given me pain, not only all the many times I have looked at it over the past 367 days, but when I see it in my mind, or think about it, which I have done more and more. Particularly over the past month, as its anniversary has approached.
It burns me; burns with pain, with outrage, with disgust; the image is clearly indelibly burned into the front of my mind. It never once urges me to look away, to ‘forget it’. Rather, it draws me to itself, insists, implores. It has always begged me to bring it to the eyes of as many viewers as possible. I tried once before on a blog that was a failure, last February. Now is the right time, the best time.
Over these past 6 & a half months, so many diverse, sincerely wonderful people - who have given me strength and support when I have needed it, simply by coming to this place and communicating with me and with each other – have expressed to me their appreciation of my photography. Other have emphasised an appreciation for the accompanying texts, particularly back over the summer, when I wrote more, shared more in words my observations and reactions to the world around me, macro & micro.
For many people, it was both the image and text that sealed their interest and loyalty.
Now it is time to reveal this picture to whoever comes here and I have tried very hard to find the best way to publish it.
Because you see, it matters far more to me than getting it wrong can permit. It also matters to me far more than the Christmas, which is not for life, just a pause until normal service is resumed every Janury 2nd.
I want reaction. If you are still reading, I implore you/je t’implore/por favor, leave a comment/écris un commentaire/deixe um comentário/dejame tus pensamentos!
Beyond the self – mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs (because this is about the collective and not only the individual – the man in the wheelchair is as important as ‘I’ may be, subjectively and objectively.
Why?
Because I feel that I have captured, in one photo taken from 1 meter below my eyes, all of the contradictions, dualities, complexities, ambiguities and, yes! hypocrisies contained within our species, within every word that extends from the prefix, ‘socio’.
I owe that man this. And not because today is the International Day for The Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Or because it is Christmas in 15 days from now.
But because THIS glimpse of humanity does not end now, not yet.
33 comments:
I see him Stewart, the invisible one and oh so many......Thank you for posting this picture...I too have the memory...My invisible one sat much like this man... waiting.....Im in tears as I write this,its a good memory of a tramp (a gentleman of the road) who taught me that true dignity is not something revealed in ones clothing, nor in the eye of the beholder, but carried deep within the self and nothing can disguise it....Sometimes we just need to stay close,get close, communicate and allow ourselves to be touched..to hear..to see....pack away our preconceptions even if just for a moment a single meeting. He is one I will never forget and will always be grateful for our meeting
I was about to say Im speechless, but you wouldnt believe me...LOL, when the heart speaks the voice......well?
Very powerful images, very real lives.....that speak for themselves, worthy of respect
I work with adults who suffer enduring mental health problems.....as I said so many invisible ones
Audrey
the rights of man......
wonder what is a man for some people, just a number somewhere...that little boy just underneath this post...will he ends like this...
what can we do...
i feel so helpless...I translate the text for Peter...just a little help...give help or money when I can...it's so little...
we are voting next year in France..can a vote help?
it's the same all over the world...
and people are spending money in shops to try and forget...
what makes me hope is that you and me know RUTH...she's the positive star of next Christmas...
see you my friend and I'll think about your message!
Mousie
A year of waiting with him in my mind, and countless others. Already from these two comments, it feels justified.
You both are more in touch on this than you can probably imagine.
Audrey,you have so much heart that it brings you tears. I really didn't want to induce this, but neither you nor I can help your great heart full of humanity and your consciousness. You write about your good memory of a tramp and, guess what? I have one so similar. It is waiting in the pipeline, next up, from this strange expedition that 2006 has taken me through, and which is now finding its way out as the year steams head on towards its finale. Like no other for me.
And then you close with the use of the adjective 'invisible', in relation to those poor sufferers, which is yet another of the strong impressions of this year, as well as others, in respect of those who suffer in any respect. How easy it is to be made invisible!
Breath it in & be enriched and empowered, Audrey. it is our world and we have an awful lot to see & know & feel, a lot we can do. All it takes is courage, will and openness, instead of fear, or indifference or judgemental sanctimoniousness or hypocrisy or egocentricity or prejudice. But you know all that already.
In the face of your feeling helpless, I send you the same message, Mousie. We cannot help but feel helpless, but it doesn't have to beat us, immobilise us. We can find inspiration and take heart & courage from our good examples. I do so agree with you, I feel it the same way. Ruth is a true inspiration, the greatest star I've come across in this blog-galaxy this year, though I doubt she'd thank us for saying it. However, Ruth, like it or not, that's it. The way it is. Sadly, the ote will change nothing, because it is governed by marketing for the short-term, the vote. Cegolène is already at the disadvantage of her gender. The news of her selection was announced by the Paris correspondent of the Portuguese national radio news with the description of her, in all seriousness, that she is "bonita" (belle/beautiful). So if she wins, they can dedicate valuable years of time-wasting about her clothes, her perfume, her voice, how sexy she is (or isn't), fuelling male fantasies and......it'll get in the way. Whereas what we all need is immense, profound and RAPID systemic change, because as time is running out, we are ALL losing the real battle. Because we aren't even fighting it. I'm changing in wqhat I'm doing wqith this blog. if people miss the beautiful, i say too bad. And so do I, believe me. If my mother hadn't taught me all about the beautiful - the material & the abstract - long ago, I would not have survived this long. That's why I have to see it and share it, but I cannot ever close my eyes to the ugliness, or all the injustice.
Time is running out.
Sleep well and move up and on, both. We all start again tomorrow!
My dear Friend,
Should I feel anger at a world that allows this scene?
Should I feel compassion for the man and the so many like him?
Should I feel relief that it is not me?
Is FEELING enough?
NO my friend. Sitting here FEELING is not enough!!!!
Maybe I should THINK about what I can do to change a world that allows this scene.
NO my friend. THINKING is not enough!!!
Each and every one of us must DO something, however humble, so that the time will come when the newborn of today will NEVER be able to take a photograph like this
Rx
Stewart,
You'd be amazed how many people would tell him to "get a job." Or is that just an American sentiment?
I wish him the best ( what more can I do?)and I can appreciate your emotions. I feel the same way.
As the song goes, "Bless 'em all."
I know that too well, Paul. It isn't just an American "easy" perspective. Europeans are liable to reach for that one too. And the worst of all is: " A lot of them are like that because they choose to be". They could get out of it if they wanted to!" .
So there! That's it then, it's there own fault, or it's their choice, why can't they be more like "us"? Now,get out of my way, you scum. Crawl back under your stone where I can't see you & let me get on with my shopping & dreaming in peace! Can't you see I need a new Mercedes??? That "We" has no humanity, no heart & probably very poor eyesight and brain-cells.
Stewart Im smiling....you wrote "That "We" has no humanity,no heart&probabaly very poor eyesight and brain cells.....Also re tears-" you really didnt want to induce this.......dont worry they clear the eyes and the vision also soften the heart,strenthen rather than weaken it........I thank you for the induction........they keep me real
With gratitude
Audrey
Well Stewart, I see you have been getting favourable response to this post. I am in agreement with Ruth that feeling is not enough - hopefully your photo and text will goad some people into actually doing something instead of walking by. Unfortunately this is the time of year when people get their conscience pricked, give a pittance to some charity and then go on their way feeling good about themselves until next year.
You have begged for a response so I'll do my best - it might not be what you want to hear. It's a fine photo, and it contains many telling elements - the beautiful dog that he obviously cares for better than he does himself - the dog is well-nourished, clean coat, clear eyes. The passerby ignoring him. The sign behind him, full of irony. The man's face, itself - the bad eye, the expression - almost calm, to me - not desperate, necessarily, but watchful, looking for opportunity. Photos can inspire such powerful reactions and meaningful actions, but as I read somewhere today or yesterday, they need a few words of context to have the greatest impact - the story behind. An example: there is a picture on the front page of today's New York Times, (for the moment, it can be seen here, not sure if it will stay forever: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/world/africa/10africa.html?ref=africa) of a baby, crawling and crying. It looks like every other picture of a suffering African child, until you read that this child was abandoned, by villagers fleeing in fright - I stopped and meditated on that for a long time (thought for a few minutes how I could adopt that child, or one like her)! The irony: the villagers were fleeing a UN convoy. Back to your photo: I lived in New York City for so many years -- I passed homeless men like yours dozens of times every day - the sight no longer has much power to shock, but that does not mean I'm complacent. As I think you know, I worked with homeless families and especially children for all that time. I held children weeping at funerals of parents who died of drug overdoses, and saw "my" children die of AIDS, saw violence, fear, anguish, and also love, strength and courage.
Daily, I channel my sadness and rage into my work: into becoming more skilled at building an organization that enables people to help each other and help themselves. We each have to do more, always. We have to change our institutions. We have to teach our children. We each can do our part, daily. (Another day, I'll tell you about our tzedakah box and the conversations we have around it every Friday night.) I used to think that if we cuoldn't change the system that the band-aids we put on the wounds don't count, but I don't feel that way anymore: every bit of comfort we bring to another human being (or to the earth) is worth the time and effort it takes us, times ten. You know that, Stewart - you spend so much of your time reaching out across the anonymous blogosphere to help those in pain. I wish to know more about this man's story and I suppose I never will!
Lorsque je suis allée à Paris, canal st martin pour préparer le message d'anniversaire d'imparfait, (tu t'en souviens de ce message), il y avait quelque chose de changé dans "paris éternel": maintenant il y a des toiles de tentes sous les ponts, , notamment des tentes et des tas de choses sous la passerelle de l'hôtel du nord
La photo que j'ai publiée de la structure de la passerelle et de l'enseigne de l'hôtel du nord, je l'ai recadrée car dans la structure il y avait un petit sac en plastique: où veux tu que ces personnes sans domicile mettent leurs affaires ?
L'une d'entre elles avait mis ce sac là haut, à l'abri
Ce qu'elles ont de plus précieux ce sont leurs chaussures et on leur vole pendant leur sommeil
Sur la place de la république aussi il y avait des toiles de tentes
Je trouve ça bien dans un sens, car cela a plus de "lisibilité", ces sans domicile fixe se voient ainsi
Et le problème pour eux est d'avoir un endroit à eux dans la journée pour mettre leurs affaires
Quand je les croise parfois je discutte avec eux, ils ont besoin qu'on ne les fuie pas du regard Ils ont toujours besoin de se justifier "je ne bois pas" ou "je fais ce que je peux pour trouver du travail"
Je sais ça, car tu vois, Mile, je sais que très vite on peut tomber dans la rue: il suffit d'un divorce, d'une rupture, d'un licenciement abusif, d'une maladie
Alors il faut se dire que ce sont des personnes comme nous qui n'ont pas eu de chance Et que ça peut arriver à tout le monde
Bonjour,
Je vais écrire en français, si vous n'en voyez pas d'inconvénient, je pense que vous comprenez ma langue n'est-ce pas ?
Je pense que cette photo ne peut laisser personne indifférent. Pour moi, celui qui est insensible est "mort".
Vous avez raison, il faut ouvrir nos yeux sur cette détresse, et agir aussi.
Avez vous fait quelque chose pour cet homme ? Je sais bien que ce n'est pas toujours facile de faire un pas vers ces pauvres gens, pourquoi ? ...Une certaine peur peut être. Moi-même, j'avoue que j'ai du mal, je donne quelques pièces et c'est tout, et c'est bien peu. Il faudrait s'arrêter, prendre le temps de leur parler. Heureusement, il existe quand même, dans certains pays, des associations qui font du bon boulot. Et je dis félicitations aux bénévoles qui ne s'occupent pas que de leur "nombril" et donnent de leur temps, il y en a. Et je pense sérieusement à les rejoindre.
"Tout ce qui n'est pas donné est perdu" Mère Térésa.
Im struggling with this thought.......Do we fully respect him as a man if we see only his what he appears to lack.......Do we truly honour one of the basic human needs to love and be loved....He obviously is capable of this seen through his relationship and health of his dog, his best friend I can only assume, his capacity to care for something outwith himself...Its that word HOPE thats hanging around for some reason, his sense of responsibility towards his animal....... its important and not that it should be asked of him but if he were to be offered a four figure sum for his best friend I truly doubt if he would make the exchange......Dont know...but its not about money really is it....but im questioning if thats what sometimes blinds us re power,sense of self esteem and attitudes....An Italian writer Primo Levi once wrote If I am not for myself,then who will be for me..If not this way..How? If not now..When....And without hope what do we have...If we cant build on the solid thats evident then what do we build on....The want..the need...Sorry rambling
Audrey
Pictures and experiences reflect what is inside ourselves. What do you see? I see a dog - bored or sad. The man hungry for an opportunity - is it money, food, a companion, compassion or anger? Perhaps, is it possible we will see something new if we visit the picture every day?
Thank you for this powerful post.
What a wonderfully heartbreaking post. I too have seen this, and ask why? Animals care for their own. Why does not man?
tea
xo
Audrey I can see this picture is really getting to you - the same way it got to Stewart but obviously your previous experience also has a bearing on your present dilemma. Now if it can only have a similar effect with other people perhaps something can be achieved.
Jenny you have also had powerful previous experiences - you say - 'the sight (of homeless men) no longer has much power to shock' but it still affects you though and you are doing something to help society and men like this. And you're right this man IS almost calm, - not desperate and that is the wonderful thing about this photo - it shows this man has not lost his self respect, he's not despairing, he's still there facing up to the world.
getzapped I'm not sure which side of the fence you have fallen on - you sound just a little cynical.
I can only end quoting Jenny again - every bit of comfort we bring to another human being (or to the earth) is worth the time and effort it takes us.
True dr a.
Its a something I meet in my work..I feel it so important to meet people where they are at....no matter how hard, not where I want or wish them to be...but I see it so often and it can be quite disempowering to be too far ahead of someone....Like Jenny this sight no longer has the power to shock me yet it challenges me and to be honest stretches me at times, and my previous experience was about my own fears, prejudices and nothing to do with a homeless man asking me for what he wanted, he threw me back on myself like no other had in a way I will never forget...Very humbling experience
and I grew from it
Amazing thread, like a diamond so many facets
Audrey
And LOL, dr a, now I can get to bed you wrote something very clearly thats very important, that needs to be seen "he has not lost his self respect, he's not despairing,he is still there facing the world"
There, We futher disenfranchise him if we dont acknowledge that strength in him....why couldnt I have said it so simply thank you
Audrey ( big smile )
Infelizmente o meu inglês não dá para um comentário calo.Compreendo como te deves sentir chocado , como eu fiquei chocada,com a foto.Mas já pensaste em alguem que já viveu razialbelmente, limpo,sem privações, gozando os seus pequenos inofensivos, com um rendimeno não muito grande, mas o suficiente para os seus desejos.E derepente, essa alguém que já viveu bem,vê-se velho,com as doenças haboituais da idade, talvez sízinho porque lhe morreu o companheiro, ou companheira, com a reforma que no tempo dele seria suficiente,a impedi-lo de fazer a vida decente que tivera até ali.Conheço dois ou tres casos destes,que são verdadeiramente dramáticos. em breve vou fazer uma postagem, explicando-te que a Marjan já chegou, a marta vem com o marido e a sara vem da irlanda. muito carinho martina
Martina, olá e agradeço-te o comentário. Vou postar em breve (amanhã de maanhã, já é tarde à mais)outra versão para que os Portugueses e Espanhois possam contribuir tambem.
Sim. jà pensei e sigo pensando. Se trata das várias formas de ser excluido/a das sociedades modernas. Invisibilidado/a pelas fraquezas:demasiado pobre/velho/doente/sozinho. O maior injustiça, na minha opinião, é essa própria invisibilidade em que todos os casos, como os que mencionaste, devem encarar o dia à dia com a mínima protecção, ou até nenhuma. Sim, conheço. É nogente.
This is a difficult one to comment, since so much has already been said (and not just here). I remember living in Lisbon and passing dozens of people like him every day. First, when I used public transport, I used to feel bad for having a home, good clothes, people who cared about me etc, and them having so little. Later, when I was driving an old Opel Kadett that used to belong to my grandfather, I felt bad about being so young and even having a car, when they - many times aged enough to be my parents, or even grandparents - had so little. I occasionally gave them a coin, but never communicated. Big cities have this effect on you - you get suspicious - do they really need help? are they mad? could they hurt you? - it is awfull, but that's what happens, you just want to run away and not see it anymore. Now I live in a small town. I know many will say I'm just seeing the bright side of things, but the truth is that here, like in a small village, things are different. There is one "beggar" in this town and I know his name. Actually, everybody does. He goes to the same "Centro de Saúde" I go, to treat his bad leg and every nurse knows him. He begs, he is a bit "nuts", but people look him in the eye and greet him good mornings as they do with any other passersby they know by sight. They don't run away, pretending not to see, because J. is a member of this town, as much as I am. Sooo... where am I going with all this talk? I think this horrible anonymity (in the bad sense of the word) is something that grows as towns and cities grow bigger and bigger, and people lose the sense of belonging to a community where they're supposed to support each other (isn't that the reason we human beings are social animals and live in communities in the first place?). I really don't know what is the solution - or if there is one at all. For me, it was leaving for a place where my kids can still grow with a sense of community. It is just a shame that these places are getting scarce and the others keep growng and growing.
Well, it’s hard to say something after so many comments…this picture could have been taken in any part of the world…too sad…too frequent…too shocking. However is not when I look at this man or the ones like him that I feel more overwhelmed, it’s when I think of all of those who pass by without noticing him....sometimes I have done the same….sometimes.
This picture tells me about misery, but it also tells me about love and sharing. This man has a dog and that means he is not completely alone in this world, it means that he is generous in his poverty, maybe more big-hearted than many people in their wealth. It tells me he is a loving man and loyal to his furry friend and I bet he shares his cents and his food with his dog, and that’s more than many of us do.
Long time ago I felt very worried about men like this one, and children and women wandering through life day and night with their empty hands, and their empty stomachs. I felt desperate without knowing what to do….now I know.
I’ve learned that we can’t help all of them, but we can help some, and that is what we all need to do. I help some of them, you help others and soon we will be able to help many people....
Every month I give my support and some money to an institution that works with children rescued from the streets, so together with many other people we make the difference for this kids. This is the way I found to help, there are many other ways, the important thing is to look and to see and then…to act.
Mile, thanks for the picture, it was food for thought!!!
On est pas insensible à la détresse des autres:Quel monde!
Il suffit d'entre aide et surtout de moins d'indifférence envers ce qui nous entoure.
I see this on the streets here in DC everyday. There are times when I am compelled to take a picture, but I afraid to offend them. You have inspired me to take those photos so that people will acknowledge that there is a problem. It is a big problem here in the Washington, D.C. Thanks for this!
Merci à vous aussi de m'avoir laissé les commentaires
J'essaie 'être ici, mais j'ai bcp de travail
:)
This comment is a test to see if i can enter my own blog today. I was in fact locked out yesterday when I wanted - and needed - to follow up on all of your comments.
without saying more in this, I will now test it. Certainly, it seems that a lot of blogs had bad problems yesterday, either the "new, improved" Betas, or those like the older version like mine. Google, have a better day today. Please. You can't do this to us!
Great, I'm in! I will have some breakfast & return shortly.
But work had to come first.
Practically everybody who has come in to voice their thoughts and feelings on this post has been so open - necessarily, I believe - that for once it has been the kind of forum which stimulates us to think even more, in fact to examine everything we as individuals stand for. This, at least is what you have stimulated me to do.
When I couldn't get into this blog yesterday, I started to worry that people who had taken so much precious time to respond in the way I had asked could now start to think that I do not really care.
It is absolutely the opposite. Yesterday, I first printed out all the comments to read them more comfortably, digest and note my responses.
I had decided to stand back in the shadows and facilitate the comments 2 days ago, expecting to sum it up yesterday. It is much harder than I expected, 1) because of the strength & range of valued impressions; 2)because my own mind was using the stimulations to push me further on this issue; 3)everyday life & work making obstructions to the continuity of this; and 4)lastly, Google getting stupid and nasty, also obstructing a response. All i can do nowe is ask for a little more patience. This is far from finished.
One thing I do want to do now is a quick, translation of the French comments, as I think these contributions must be as available to all as the English ones.
S'il vous me permettrez, Cergie, MLL et Lynn, au lieu d'une trad complète, je ferai des résumés 'fidèles', faute de temps.
CERGIE Said:
In Paris (the "eternal city"),I found that there are now tents and loads of belongings under the bridges....e.g. by the Canal St Martin, a small plastic bag attached to a footbridge: Where are the homeless people supposed to keep their things. Someone had tied this sac as high up as possible, for safety. What are most precious to them are their shoes, which will often get stolen while they are sleeping.
Also at the Place de la République, there are cloth tents. I think this is good in a sense, because it increases their "visibility" [cergie, je traduis en 'visi', quoique tu aie écrite 'lisi', car c'est ça que je crois être ton intention, non?]...The problem of the homeless is to have somewhere during the day to leave their things. Sometimes, I talk with them; they need people not to look away from them, they always feel they have to justify themselves with for example, "I don't drink", or "I'm doing everything I can to get a job".
You see, Mile, I know this, I know just how easily one can find onesself out on the street: all it takes is a divorce, some rupture in one's normal life, an abusive firing from your job, an illness. So, we have to recongise that these are people like us who have been hit by bad luck. And this can happen to anybody".
11/12/06
"...I think that this photo can't leave anybody indifferent. As far as I'm concerned, whoever is insensitive is "dead".
You are right, we must open our eyes to this distress, and act also.
Did you do anything for this man?
I know it's not always easy to reach out towards these poor people, but why not? A certain fear, maybe. Myself, I confess that I find it hard, I give a few coins and that's it. And it's too little.
I should stop, take the time to talk to them. At least there are associations in some countries that do great work. I offer my appreciation to the volunteer workers who don't just gaze at their navels but give their time....And I'm seriously considering joining them.
"We aren't insensitive [Lynn,did you mean 'insensitive'? Or [SENSITIVE'?] to the distress of others: what a world!
We need to help each other more and above all, be less indifferent to what is all around us, under our noses"
12/12/06
I honestly still do not know how to proceed to interact, when there is so much to say to so many.
Above all, I do not want this to go cold. Regarding what I did for that man, at that instant, my instinct told me to record what I saw. A few coins would only salve my conscience and would have felt like a payment for his services. It went deeper. I felt an emotion of anger,& a need to bring the issue to the attention of more people.
When I read Jenny's last sentence, I immediately resolved to do something: find him, if it is possible. To try to know him and his life in particular. It's no longer so "easy", as I cannot go into the city as easily as before, when I lived in the centre. When I can, I will. I want to tell you that there are others that I do know better. A name, a kind of place to live, where I have been made welcome, as a genuine friend (there is even one of my photos on the wall, but no water, no gas, no electricity- but immense pride, independence and sincere human warmth). Yes, I will tell you the story in a post very soon.
I took such great comfort from reading Stephen Bess' comment, because Stephen, it is just one of the ways that we can try to make something happen. Christmas & the lights & festivities aren't going away for a few weeks. Let us perhaps all resolve to find at least one person who has fallen through the net that Cergie so rightly describes and try to help them. Not for our own consciences, not to make US feel better, or to help us sleep a little easier. But to simply help another human being's life, to give to stranger equally of flesh and blood, without expectation of reward. There's no reason for our fear. More, I personally have learned that only giving without expectation makes us truly happy.
Lastly, I ask again for your patience. I think I will post a reply separately, so please look out for this. Next, something for the Spanish & Portuguese language users only... To Peace, to strength, to health, to open eyes, to courage, to going forward..TO ACTION!
Stewart - your picture is a twin to the one I posted in November - same despair, hopelessness - same unfortunate circumstance... Not feeling wordy today, but let me just say that your picture is one that cuts the viewer straight to the core, no frills or way of escape. I wonder where that man is now - thank you for the gripping reminder that we are not all equal in this world of ours. We need to help each other. Awesome photo.
Thanks for your reply and for having translated my message (I wish I could speak several languages as well as you do).
Heureuse de voir que vous prenez ces choses là à coeur and glad to see you've decided to do something :)
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