Searching For Joe

Over the last few years I have taken a number of photographs of homeless people. Mostly the homeless people of my hometown Newcastle upon Tyne. It was never my intention to document homelessness; it just happened via a mixture of chance encounters with interesting people. One of the most engaging homeless characters I have met recently is Joe. After taking the initial photos below I have seen him a few times and stopped to chat with him and provide him with some food and a warm drink. 

See 'Searching' on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

Due to a set of random contacts I am about to look specifically for a homeless person willing to pose for a book cover for a novel written about an ex-homeless persons experiences of life on the street. Joe may or may not be a suitable face but I will be out again tomorrow searching for him to see if he will help me in my quest. 

 See 'Joe' in my 100 Strangers Project Here © Anthony Dorman

Despite his circumstances Joe offered a cheery chat and happily posed for his photograph. He offered to help me locate the homeless people of Newcastle if I wanted and we had a good chat about photography, the weather (as you do when you are British) and other things. I saw strangers look at me with some kind of mixture of shock and disgust when I shook Joe's hand when we finished chatting. I am always amazed by how pathetic and prejudiced people can be towards the homeless. I don't know Joe's full story yet but I do know that he spoke to me with a friendly, gentle and honest manner I wish was more common in the more fortunate population.

See 'Joe' in my flickr page here © Anthony Dorman

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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

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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

Homeless Man Newcastle (Revisited)

On April 2010 I took the following candid photograph of a well known homeless man in Newcastle upon Tyne. Read my original post here;

 http://www.anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Homeless%20in%20Newcastle

                                        View this image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

Whilst walking in Newcastle last week I saw him again. This time I wanted to ask him if I could take his photo. I was expecting him to say no as he generally avoids people - you never see him begging or being a bother. He stopped in his tracks and quietly said yes. I took about five quick shots aware that this was a rare  and special privilege. I did not want to hassle or embarrass him so this all took about 90 seconds. At the end of the encounter I thanked him and gave him a few quid to help him out.

View this image on flickr here © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr here  © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr here  © Anthony Dorman

I have been contacted about this man via the first image I took and posted on flickr a number of times. Thankfully I can say that the emails I have received have been great with people telling me how they have helped him out with a bit of money or food. Hopefully these new images may inspire the same results.

I have been interviewed for a new photography website called Worth The Shot recently about my approach to street portraits and other stuff. This is a new page that will feature photographer interviews, tutorials and all things photography related.

Check the site out here: http://worththeshot.co.uk/

check out my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16059306@N08/

I also tweet here: http://twitter.com/anthonydorman

Homeless Man in Newcastle

I took this image in 2010. It was the first image I took with my 70-200 f2.8L lens. I was looking through a shop window in Newcastle and I knew my settings where probably all over the place. I saw this homeless man (who is well known in Newcastle) and just pressed the shutter and hoped the image would be OK. After posting this image on my flickr account last year I have had a number of people contact me to say they have fed this man. I also had someone contact me and tell me his story, it would be unfair to share it here but what you need to know is - he never begs so if you see him buy him some food or spare him some change.

Homeless Man Newcastle

 check out the image on flickr Homeless Man Newcastle © Anthony Dorman

Homeless Man Newcastle (crop)

check out this image on flickr Homeless Man Newcastle (Crop) © Anthony Dorman

Remember - we are all only a few decisions away from being homeless and suffering from poverty so don't judge, just be kind - it could be you one day.