Why I did this project

Nelson Mandela inspired this work. Starting in 1990, I was privileged to meet and cover him on many occasions as a member of the press. He would enter a room and greet us journalists, the janitor, the visiting head of state, and anyone else he met with the same attention and respect.

I wanted to find a way to bring attention to the lives of homeless people who are so often invisible to society, who are on the fringes and ignored. They blend into the background of their harsh urban realities and don’t get the same respect as others. But they are people like anyone else with hopes and dreams and personal histories.

I have photographed many homeless people through my work over the last three decades, but wanted a new way to bring them into the spotlight and make people stop, listen to, and engage with their stories. An idea came to me of taking them briefly “off the streets” and shooting portraits of them in this stylised way, of photographically treating them as if they were celebrities or models without the background in which they so often disappear from our eyes.

I used a simple methodology for the project.

I approached a cross section of homeless people in the greater Cape Town area. I have known some of them for years and have only just met others. I explained the project in detail to each slowly and carefully before offering them the opportunity to participate. I created a care package of some essential items in a backpack for each person I approached and gave it to them whether they wanted to be in the project or not. All the people in this project gave their consent and were grateful to have an opportunity to tell their stories and be photographed.

I did the portraits in the same way, with minimal editing and directing. I asked each person to stand on the curve and look to the camera. I used all natural lighting with the help of an assistant, the white infinity curve and one reflector.

I asked the same seven questions to each person before recording and transcribing the interview verbatim with minimal editing. I did this so that each person’s voice appeared as they spoke to me.

I hope this project will raise awareness and promote policy change regarding homelessness in South Africa. Statistics South Africa indicates that more than 56,000 people are homeless in the country, with over 14,000 in Cape Town. Our greater than 30 percent unemployment exacerbates this crisis. This project seeks to spotlight homelessness as a symptom of the government's failings in labor, education, and employment, and seeks to foster greater understanding and empathy for those affected.

My aim is that people will become more curious and bridge the gap between their lives and those of the homeless. I hope people will stop more often and talk with homeless people and make connections with them. I hope readers will see them as the people they are and not just statistics, and, in this way, treat them with greater dignity and understanding.

I would like to thank all the participants of this project for making it possible, GroundUp for their support, Luke Swanepoel, my assistant, for his excellent work, CCIJ Executive Director Jeff Kelly Lowenstein for editing this note and Sony for technical photographic support.