This fall, I got an e-mail from a guy named JM Simpson who'd read things I'd written about homelessness. He mentioned he was a photojournalist in Olympia and that he'd been photographing the unhoused population there. He wanted to share some work with me . . . (1)
Googling, I saw he didn't have much internet presence (no portfolio online, etc.) and so didn't know what to expect. But when he sent me his work, I thought it was stunning. He's been e-mailing me photographs every couple weeks since . . . (2)
Simpson told me he talks with, gets to know, and asks permission from any person before he takes their photo. This is good ethical practice. But it also leads to photography that feels intimate and humane rather than removed and voyeuristic (3)
It's clear Simpson genuinely likes his subjects. He tells me stories about all of them. Apparently this guy is a real character who insists that he prefers to live on the street (which may or may not be true!). Also--Go Irish! (4)
When I've been around unhoused folks in encampments, there's always this odd contrast between the squalid conditions/those who are very unwell and the substantial number of campers who seem so full of life despite everything. I think his photography captures this . . . (5)
Which is to say, his photography avoids reducing the subjects to mere objects of pity, but also avoids romanticizing their lives (6)
Every time he sends me a few new pictures, I go back and look at the old ones again. And while it would be bizarre to say I feel like I know his subjects now, I do feel as if I *like* them. Somehow he makes it easy to imagine a backstory, or something (7)
His work deserves to be known, though! He and I want to collaborate on something soon, so hopefully that will come to fruition. This link includes contact info if anyone wanted to get in touch with him. (9) thejoltnews.com/stories/jm-sim…
@pschofie79 Amazing work. Thank you so much for sharing your story, of JM's story capturing the humanity of those living in shadows. 🙏
@pschofie79 Great work, well done. FYI @GCVA_Mcr
@pschofie79 It's a huge shame that in the "richest country" in the world we have so many homeless people. Probably the highest number since the great depression 😡
@pschofie79 These and others make a great touring photo exhibition!
@pschofie79 What beautiful photos. Really display the love and respect the photographer has for these people.
@pschofie79 Truly moving images! A compassionate society should always find the plight of homelessness intolerable. m.youtube.com/watch?v=SrWsRk…