One summer day I decided to drive to an appointment and because my truck is old (1973 Chevy) and a work in progress, I do not drive the freeways. Other than that it is in pretty good shape street wise. The easiest way to get to Downtown Los Angeles is to go down a side street like Alameda. It takes you in the back way and that is where I re-discovered Skid Row.
Men and women sitting, standing, singing, laughing, lounging, cussing and some in their own world reciting their own indecipherable poetry. For blocks and blocks. It was hot and towards late afternoon. One women, dressed in a pair of pants where one leg was long and the other one short and of different fabrics... stepped off the sidewalk in front of my truck and began to dance.
So I had two thoughts- "you have to be free with nothing to lose to be able to dance with that abandon" and "one day I am coming back with my camera". Today was the day I returned.
My friend J-Lo (the original Stanford grad J-Lo) mentioned a while back that she wanted to videotape our morning walks. We have quite a view in the city... When I started planning the trip I asked her if she wanted to come along and film with me. No problem.
However, there are rules that I follow that were taught to me by one of the greatest photographers in L.A., Willie Middlebrook (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/11/local/la-me-willie-middlebrook-20120511). You cannot just start filming, you have to start with respect; you have to stop if asked to stop; you have to be kind and compassionate; you have to present yourself as professional. Added to that I decided it would be nice if we had something to give.
J-Lo and I purchased warm, 80% cotton socks and filled three large athletic bags. When we got to our destination, 6th Street just past Wall Avenue, we reached into the bags and started handing them out, one pair at a time. Wishing each person a Happy New Year or Merry Christmas, we moved right along until they were all gone.
But I must back up... the first lady I tried to give a pair to went into a rage and followed us down the street, yelling and ranting how much she hated "F-ing black socks!" Here she is in a pair of leggings and no shoes at all. She is one of those people who are so displaced she doesn't even realize she needs shoes let alone socks. My mistake there...
We continued along 6th Street and then made our way to the Weingart Center. One of the phenomena of street life is the bond of its residents. One lady, sitting on her bundle of bedding asked if she could have a pair for her friend, who would be back to his bundle shortly. It was not a scam to get more. If it had been then everyone else would have tried to get a second pair. Nope, they graciously thanked us and there were very few personal requests. One man did ask for a second pair because his shoes were so large and heavy they were rubbing against his feet. No problem. There were a lot of "bless you" and "thank you so much" and genuine gratefulness.
The Weingart Center provides comprehensive human services to homeless men, women, veterans, parolees, families, HIV+ and other at-risk individuals. It is located in the heart of Los Angeles Skid Row. When we were there, it was lunch time. There are also cafes that serve meals restaurant style and clean and nice decorated. The center takes up an entire block and has workforce development, community re-entry, emergency services, detox/substance abuse, sort-term housing and medical/mental health services. Some homeless are discharged straight to the streets from hospitals so the center helps them through a short-term program.
Then there was the gentleman in the convertible who pulled up to talk to one of the Weingart employees. As we stood there getting the low-down on the best time to film from this very nice man, this guy in the convertible tells the other man how fortunate he was to have met him, how well he was doing at the time and how well his wife was doing. Then he said, pointing to the woman who was riding with him, "yes, my wife she is doing well and this here is my bitch!" We surmised he had entered Pimp-dom because the woman said nothing and did not even look concerned. J-Lo and wandered on to the corner to pick up some information from the Weingart office. But... before we left we did get a big hug from a young man who apparently had been helped by this same counselor
On the way back to the car, we passed the shoeless lady. This time she was sitting and then lying on the sidewalk. It was sad, really, she appeared so alone and disconnected. I took her photo from a distance, not wanting to take away the space she'd staked as her own, even if it was a public sidewalk.
There was a different reaction when we returned in the car. Had the brilliant idea of filming from the car. This was after we'd run out of socks. That did not work. I suspect it didn't because there was no interaction and we appeared so intrusive and disrespectful of their privacy. I put the camera away and we headed home.
