With all the insanity of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all the other Christmas shopping we get caught up in this time of year, I thought I’d offer up a sobering reminder that there are those individuals all over the world living in need and despair. And I couldn’t think of a better way to illustrate that point than with the haunting black and white photography of the homeless by Lee Jeffries.
An amateur photographer and accountant by trade, Jeffries began photographing sporting events in Manchester, England (where he resides). His life was changed upon stealing a photo of a homeless girl huddled in a sleeping bag on the streets of London. “She kicked up a right fuss!”, recalls Jeffries. “I was incredibly embarrassed and was faced with a decision – walk away, or go and apologize. I chose the latter and her story and subsequent images I took of her changed my approach to street photography forever.”
Since then, he’s captured photographs of the homeless here in America including Los Angeles, New York, and Miami as well as Rome and Manchester. His stark, uncompromising images remind us to not only appreciate what we have but to consider those who have little to nothing.
Let’s not forget that this holiday season…
You can see more of Lee Jeffries work HERE.
