“Through Our Eyes” – Homeless Youth Document The Silly And The Serious
Gallery by Robyn Gee on March 21, 2011
Just last week, police started enforcing the “Sit / Lie” legislation that was passed in November 2010, which prevents people from sitting or lying down on the sidewalks of San Francisco between 7a.m. and 11p.m. One group feeling the effects of this is the Homeless Youth Alliance (HYA), a drop-in center and outreach program for homeless youth in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, an area tightly associated with the hippie era of the 1960’s.
HYA recently finished a photo book project called “Through Our Eyes,” to be published in early April. Mary
Howe and Khristine Jones of HYA gave out 200 cameras to homeless youth, and offered a $5 incentive to bring the cameras back after shooting their roll of pictures. They got 160 cameras back over a period of two years. After sorting through thousands of pictures, common themes emerged which turned into sections in the book.
The folks at HYA spoke with Turnstyle about this project, and what it means to them at a time when there is forceful legislation that targets people on the streets.
Interviewees: Dye (HYA client), Khristine Jones (Outreach Counselor at HYA, co-director of “Through Our Eyes” project, and former HYA client), Alli Reed (Development Associate at HYA)
Q: How did you get involved with Homeless Youth Alliance?
Dye: I’m from the Bay Area originally. I’ve been traveling for a lions’ share of the last 7 years around this country… I had stayed in the Haight Ashbury area for a while off and on when I was in SF. I knew a lot of people there. For a while I had a camera, I was taking pictures and sharing pictures with people at the HYA. So I was really excited to hear about this project and to walk through the park and see that everyone had a camera and was capturing the funny moments that I had wanted to capture, but my camera had since then met its maker.
Khristine: I was a homeless youth, and a big part of why it’s really amazing to be an outreach counselor at a grassroots harm reduction-based program is that we see eye to eye with people, we’re even. No one’s better or worse, and it’s peer based.
Q: What does this project mean to you?
Khristine: A huge thing for me when I was on the street was feeling like I didn’t have a voice, or feeling like I couldn’t speak up for myself. When I went to a hospital or the DMV I didn’t feel like I really had a voice. I really think this book gives people a voice. There’s so many books out there of people taking pictures of homeless people on the street and it’s very much them looking down – and it’s like a pose for this picture. This book is definitely through their eyes and it’s day to day and it gives people a voice, and it really captures the community, and the fun, and the amazing aspects that people don’t get to see.
Dye: The pictures are taken of friends by friends, so they’re acting more naturally. A lot of our lifestyle doesn’t get captured because if a tourist or a photographer is trying to take a natural picture of street kids, a lot of people don’t want to be photographed without their permission, but once they’ve granted permission, they’re not acting naturally. Looking over the pictures there are some really cool results that no body would have allowed a stranger to photograph… When you’re doing the same thing every day, the days tend to blend together and by looking at a photograph a lot of people can look and go, Ok I remember that, Oh I didn’t know he was there…
Q: How are the photos organized in the book?
Khristine: There’s a big stick section. That’s one of my favorites. Blood and Wounds is a good section. There’s a police section, portrait section, this is how we live, having fun, trains and traveling, drugs and drinking…
Q: Can you describe some of the most powerful pictures in the book?
Khristine: There was an incident that happened where one of the cops beat up one of the kids that came into the drop in… It was a super emotional time. It was right when we did the photo project so everyone had cameras. A couple of the kids put together a protest in the Haight. They made signs – it was pretty amazing how everyone came together – That was just a picture of a couple of the signs. The picture right above it was the kid’s blood on the ground… The kid ended up getting arrested. Nothing happened to the cops. But we have photos.
Dye: There’s a picture of our friend Sara with her ferret at her birthday party that happened in West Oakland – it was a backyard outdoor show – a couple of our friends played. We started a tradition that day and made it a boxer party. Everyone was wearing boxers that we had spray-painted Team Awesome on the backside of. We’ve done it a couple times since, so it’s funny to see that.
Q: What is the culture on the streets of the Haight Ashbury neighborhood in SF right now?
Khristine: It’s very divided. Hopefully they’ll get to see the book and it will humanize that community and the folks in the Haight.
Alli (Development Associate for HYA): There is already a lot of legislation on the books to make homeless people feel uncomfortable in public spaces. [The Sit/Lie legislation] is theoretically not directed at homeless people – but it can certainly be used as a tool of intimidation.
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Robert Bearden
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