The Interview

I was interviewed yesterday by Sky Tyne and Wear about my previous post 'Ice Cream &Aesop and the truth about Jimmy'

 here is a link to the video interview.

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/69068/life-in-pictures-homeless-jimmy-who-died-after-newcastle-flood

The shot below is of Craig the face of new novel 'Ice cream & Aesop' which is available to download via this link now http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ice-Cream-Aesop-Keir-McCabe/dp/1489512071/

See the image on my flickr page here © Anthony Dorman

India Adams of Sky Tyne and Wear can just be seen in the background filming me photographing Craig. Before I met with India I had another chance to chat (although I felt like I was interviewing him) with Craig. He is a lovely bloke who could do with a bit of good fortune. If someone would like to take the chance he can paint or work as a labourer. contact me for details. Please don't assume that everyone who is homeless is a threat or has chosen this life. Each and everyone of us is only a few bad decisions/lack of luck away from truly having nothing.

Find Me on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

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Homeless In Newcastle (Homelessness Is No Joke)

Anyone who follows my blog or my photography will know of my photographs of homeless people in Newcastle. The image below was taken a few weeks ago in Newcastle. Its hard to believe that this was taken only 5 mins walk from the city center but it was. There is no editing on this photograph at all - converted from RAW file to JPEG only. I was quite nervous taking this image as I did not want to wake the sleeping man.

See my flickr set on the Homeless here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/sets/72157631500006958/

One thing I have found since posting my original homeless photographs is how polar opposite people are on the issue. They either find time to ridicule the homeless or try somehow to help. I have been disgusted at a local facebook page dedicated to a particular homeless man who has passed away recently. Although there are some lovely people who use the page it is populated by the dregs of society using it to be vile towards people less fortunate. In this day and age there should be no need for people to be homeless. Its also sad that people still act like nasty children on social media sites.

Here is my post for the 'Homeless Jimmy' Page:

Anthony Dorman14 November 2012 11:07

Hi - the facebook post is rubbish. I have spoken with the Hostel mentioned this morning who have never heard of the man mentioned. They do not actually take homeless people either. I have spoke also with the family of the homeless man and whilst their is still an official police investigation I won't name this man but here are some facts.

1) A homeless man was taken into hospital in a serious condition. He gave his first name and birth date. The surname he gave was almost identical to the name of his family who have come forward. First name and birth date were an exact match. This man who was in hospital for a few weeks never regained his health and passed away.

2)His Family who do not live in Newcastle watched his reported sightings on facebook and via communication with police support officers for years. When they had not heard anything they reported him missing to the police. Both the family and the police used my photographs to confirm the identity of the man. Unfortunately his body was cremated before a formal family identification could take place.

3) There is an ongoing DNA test going on which is taking a long time much to the annoyance of the family who would like finally to put this whole thing behind them.

I would also like to add that the family (I met up with this man's sister recently) gave me his entire life story. He chose to be homeless and suffered with mental health issues. They have for years tried everything imaginable to get him off the streets and look after him. They are devastated by what has happened.

A second person who knew him came forward on my twitter account and gave me the same name as the family did.

I don't know why people feel the need to be so nasty on social networking sites. I have a feeling that the 'Jimmy' group will end up in trouble at some point. I can't post on the page because i'm banned. I was banned for defending myself. Someone thought it was acceptable for me to be abused whilst sticking up for the plight of homeless people.

As soon as the legal issues have been resolved and with the blessing of the family i will tell this mans story ASAP.

Update: http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ice-cream-and-aesop-and-truth-about.html

Homeless in Newcastle

Anyone who knows me or follows my blog will know that I have recently posted about the death of a well known homeless man in Newcastle. There have been developments that I can't go into just now regarding his death that are to say the least 'complicated'. Due to supposed recent sightings of the presumed deceased man I ventured back out onto the streets of Newcastle in search of answers. After speaking with the Police and The Cyrenians I was even more perplexed so decided to find Newcastle's homeless themselves in search of answers. Here are a couple of humble souls who looked at the photo of the man I was searching information about and offered their knowledge. 

                                                                © Anthony Dorman

I believe the man above is often mistaken for my missing homeless man due to his beard, hat and posture. In fact I believe Eddie below believes the man pictured above to be the missing man.

                                                                  © Anthony Dorman

                                                                   © Anthony Dorman

                                                                © Anthony Dorman

I might now begin a serious project based on homelessness based on my experiences of dealing with the homeless of Newcastle.

View the photo of my missing homeless man here http://www.anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/homeless-man-newcastle-dies.html

I Tweet: https://twitter.com/AnthonyDorman

I Tumble http://digitaldorman.tumblr.com/

I Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

Update: http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ice-cream-and-aesop-and-truth-about.html

Homeless Man Newcastle Dies

Update: http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ice-cream-and-aesop-and-truth-about.html

I was informed a few days ago that the homeless man I have photographed on a number of occasions has passed away. I have held off from commenting or posting about this until I had received confirmation of his passing. Although I have searched Google everyday since I have found no official account of his death the overwhelming chatter on facebook does point to his passing.

See the image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

                                                          See the image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

                                                       See the image on flickr © Anthony Dorman

Although he was known as Homeless Jimmy it appears that he may have been called Arthur (although I was once assured his name was Dave by a reputable source. Like many people in Newcastle I have been aware of him for some time, probably 15 years at least. On a few occasions I bought him food and gave him some money. People say that you should not give homeless people money only food but I'm sure he simply used it to buy tickets to ride the Metro System. Despite what people say I have been told he always had a valid ticket. Considering that he never begged or harassed people I was alarmed last year to be told that Newcastle's main shopping mall had banned him from sitting inside the public areas.

 My first image of him was a candid shot taken through the door of a town centre shop. The most recent black and white images were different, I quietly asked him if I could take his photo and to my surprise he said yes. Although I have never started a 'Homeless' project as some people on line have claimed I am glad to have taken his photograph. As I am someone who is interested in human faces he has such a deep expression that goes against everything modern society deems acceptable. I have seen and heard people mocking him, only the moronic who are uneducated and weak minded would act in such ways. I don't know the back story of this mans life but from experience I found him to be humble and passive. I hope that he did not suffer too much in his last few days after such a hard life. Although I'm not a religious man I do hope he is now in a better place and at peace.

Since taking the initial candid image a few years ago I have been contacted by many people all sharing positive experiences, encounters and often acts of generosity towards this man. I know these are just photographs however I hope that in some small way they will remind people to be more compassionate to those people in our society who are less fortunate and need assistance. We are all just a few poor decisions or moments of bad luck away from having nothing.

R.I.P

Here is a link to an update (14/11/12)
http://anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/homeless-in-newcastle-homelessness-is.html