Photo via thecobrasnake
I saw this picture portraying a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, he had a pee pee accident as his dark yellow urine streamed down towards the star of a celebrity. I felt tons of emotions as my brain processed this digital image. Shame. Guilt. LOLability. Snarkfactor. Sadness. AmericanBeauty. Happiness. Loneliness. Fucksocietivity. Bloggy. Alive. Dead on the inside. Alone. Without a home. Metaphorical. This is the power of photography. A simple man who peed his pants in his sleep [via no home] can say so much about humanity, society, and the struggle 2 create a better life for urself.
The sad/beautiful image of the homeless man made me think of a recent post on the globally acclaimed streetfashion blog ‘the Sartorialist’ in which the photoblogger posted a picture of a coloured homeless man, then wrote an ‘inspiring blurb’.
Photo and blurb by the Sartorialist:
I don’t usually shoot homeless people. I don’t find it romantic or appealing like a lot of street photographers, and if you asked homeless people they are probably not to happy about their situation either. That’s why I was surprised to be so drawn to taking a picture of this gentleman.
I was being interviewed for an article in British Vogue; and while we walked down Bowery back in April I barely stopped walking when I took the shot. Fiona Golfar, the writer, asked why I took the photo. At that moment I couldn’t really explain – but I just had a feeling about the power and grace of how he was sitting there. It wasn’t until later that night when I was working on the image that I realized why I had noticed this man.
Usually people in this man’s position have given up hope. Maybe this gentleman has too, I don’t know, but he hasn’t given up his sense of self or his sense of expressing something about himself to the world. In my quick shot I had noticed his pale blue boots, what I hadn’t noticed at first were the matching blue socks, blue trimmed gloves, and blue framed glasses. This shot isn’t about fashion – but about someone who, while down on his luck, hasn’t lost his need to communicate and express himself through style.
Looking at him dressed like this makes me feel that in some way he hasn’t given in or given up.
Damn. The bloggerbro’s inspirational blurb is actually kinda true… It’s like even though you might be the poorest, most worthless, homeless guy in the world, it doesn’t mean that u can’t have a little bit of pride 2 make sure that your clothes match. Never give up. Every day, u have the opportunity to brand yourself–you have the opportunity to let the world know that you are a person, and within this person is a brand which the whole world can consume.
Homelessness is not a disease–homelessness is the product of a group of people who have no pride. A group of people who don’t play by society’s rules. A group of people living in some demented reality, no longer in touch with the availability of legitimate intrinsic rewards through the power of ‘creating.your.own.image.’ We must inspire the homeless so that they can inspire us to do more than to take artsy pix of them. It is easy for photographers to take pictures of homeless people because they usually look ‘insane’, ‘urban’, and as if society has shat upon them.
A lot of people say that homeless people should ‘get a fucking job’–now I firmly believe that they would get a job if they dressed nicely, and treated people with respect. It seems like they could some how get a job at an investment bank, or perhaps a McDonalds, similar to the plotline of the popular Will Smith joint ‘The Pursuit of Happyness.’
After reading that inspired blurb, it sort of makes me want to tell this guy to ‘get his shit together’, and ‘have a little bit of pride.’ U can’t go around pissing on urself and wearing lame ass clothes if you really want to turn ur life around.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t control your bladder, or if you are mentally challenged, or if you are having ‘terrible flashback dreams.’ Every day, you need to take pride in yourself. You need to realize that your personal brand is being interpreted by every1 who sees you. Do you want to depress your viewers? Or do you want to inspire them? Be a valuable person–not just to yourself, but also to society as a whole.
This is a blog post about hope.
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IAmCarles.com
42 Comments
Hope and change?
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(first)
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thirds. totes feel sober after reading this. =/
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thirds. totes feel sober after reading this. =/
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Damn, bro.
Feel like u r ‘back on top.’
<3 u Carles.
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shawty want an alllllltttttt
sprinkle my balls with sallllllttt
shawty wanna altttt
dat durr aint my faulttttttt
cuh shawty wanna alllltttt.
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Agreed, if i do not appreciate or value myself/style/personal brand/ attitude, how can i win others’ respects.
I am who I am, I am me.
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want u in my mouf crls. need u soo bad.
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Carles, I hate to say it but really…. your posts as of late have been terrible/abysmal…
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//////////Reply by thomas
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
@XavierDeRosnay,
yep
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//////////Reply by jjj
//////////Posted September 10th, 2009 at 12:56 am
@thomas, JayChry suck on your own dick for a while, I love this shit.
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//////////Reply by thomas p levy
//////////Posted September 10th, 2009 at 12:59 am
@jjj, okay mr jay chry, getting right on that
//////////Reply by BlipsterCambridge
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
@XavierDeRosnay,
Haet to say but really… your mom as of late has been terrible/abysmal…
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//////////Reply by Lukey
//////////Posted September 10th, 2009 at 11:32 am
@XavierDeRosnay, Have to say it really……i watched your mom get abused by terrorists
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How do we know that old black guy is even homeless? Did he ask?
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//////////Reply by -_-_-_
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
@Dmagoku, please please please make that post on the actual blog:
thesartorialist.blogspot.com/2009/08/not-giving-up-nyc.html
cause if you don’t, I will.
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//////////Reply by sparsedignity
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
@-_-_-_,
since when i ‘looking’ homeless a nu trend?
isn’t it still ‘alt’ to look vagabondango [via up'scale' thrifty 'shops'] ?♀
maybe that man’s brand is hoblipster aka homeless black hipster [via smushingwordgether] but he might not be auth. it is prejudice to assume he is homeless or black.
if sartoriali$t ‘guy’ saw him at a tvotrshow he would assume he is some bandmember’s dipster [via dad + hipster].
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damn, bro. heavy.
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there’s an easy answer to this ’stylish hobo’ conundrum – the guy isn’t homeless.
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President Obama told me to Drop out of School and Become a Rapper yall!
I don’t give a fuck if I’m homeless or not because the homeless see past being slaves to the Corporatists!
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//////////Reply by Tommy the Salami
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
@Gainesvillain, it’s all about the Benjamins baby. Y’all gotta make that money, so y’all can give it all to the government.
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//////////Reply by Henry
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
@Gainesvillain, Pretty sure that isn’t Obama. Just an alleged homeless man livin’ on the streets. I wouldn’t take any advice from him….no matter who he mumbles he is
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I think HRO readers should invade the actual blog w/ comments:
thesartorialist.blogspot.com/2009/08/not-giving-up-nyc.html
cuz i luv it when that happens.
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//////////Reply by jvac
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
wow the comments listed on that original sartorialist blog make me love the fact that im not one of those “photography people”. ITS ALL JUST SO MEANINGFUL.
but i like ur input on branding no matter what the circumstances crls.
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//////////Reply by anonyt
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
@jvac, the comments section reminds me of some convo out of a bret easton ellis novel.
amazing post crls. read the sartorialist first [via the alt report] and this was the PERFECT response. <3 <3
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//////////Reply by Sociolog
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
@anonyt, yeah bret easton ellis, good call. only the characters in his novels could be that incredibly shallow.
iBrand therfore iAm
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//////////Reply by brobro
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
@bryon, Heard apple is launching the iAm in 2k10.5.
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‘ya gotta be bad, ya gotta be bold, ya gotta be wiser, yall” – graduation song
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This is pretty sick. Show some goddamn respect. Your tautologies and parantheticals and observations of ‘memes’ and so forth can be cute, funny, etc., but not when they’re built in relation to an image of someone sprawling on the street in total agony. This post is abusive – you should be embarrassed.
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//////////Reply by aw, fukk
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 10:27 am
@Mike, lol
obvs u dont get it
<3 n00bs
mabes ur being post-post-post-ironic about this post.
in which case, i applaud u sir.
<3<3aw,fukk<3<3
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//////////Reply by anonyt
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
@Mike, yeah bro, you don’t ‘get it’.
shame that someone who uses such big words can be so dumb.
h8 u
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//////////Reply by fkrock
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
@Mike,
pls get it
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//////////Reply by snags
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
@Mike, shut up
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//////////Reply by altCreep
//////////Posted September 10th, 2009 at 7:36 am
@Mike,
yall don’t get mike,
he’s more authenticbro than any of you.
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//////////Reply by srs
//////////Posted September 12th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
@altCreep, wuteva
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love romanticising homelessness via my d40, there’s nothin’ better
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A great examination of the human condition.
Feel like this is an issue we can all relate to.
I believe that we all the power to ‘control our future’.
Thx for inspiring us bloggerbro.
<3 u.
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i have been inspired to take pride in my personal brand
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Feel like that photographer had a lil bit of Obammy in him. Inspires us to pick ourselves up and seize our lives/personal fashions. We can all be alt.
As Americans, our personal brands aren’t made for us, but by us. Feel inspired right now, yall.
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I am always suspicious of photographers who project things onto their subjects, as if they had any idea. That being said, it seems so predictable that in lower Manhattan, even the homeless people are fashion whores.
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where did you see this man i would steal for them shoes
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//////////Reply by tom joad
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
@†®åπP,
first. sry bro
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goodpost (3.6 of 5 starz) (i said ‘good’ not ‘great’)
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//////////Reply by -_-_-_
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
@sébastien,
is the era of post-anti-p4k over? are we back to making to making fun of the decimal system like in 2k6/2k7?
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//////////Reply by brobro
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
@-_-_-_, he’s satirizing the ppl who don’t ‘get it’ and still are in the anti-p4.0k era of 2k7.5.
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we r 2 b consumed
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and the stars aligned … HRO & TLS write about (pretty much) the same thing on the same day…
http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2009/09/are_there_really_so_many_peopl.html
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… it’s true, mnstrm-ers give hipsters/alts shit about attention to looks/style, but they should be thanking us for the inspiration not to dress like douches. aight post.
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//////////Reply by brobro
//////////Posted September 9th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
@jjjjj, are you related to jj, of p4k’s best new music? are you 2.5 times as ____ as them because u have 2.5 times the j’s?
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:] That was grand.
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remember when fergie peed herself onstage? i kinda liked her personal brand. golden showers, warm mists…
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the homeless are the only people with style in sf
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car lace posts from the apple store
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meaningful post carles. I thought the same thing when I saw that pix on the sartorialist the other week
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i HOPE hes pissing on the star of Howie Mandel.
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I feel sorry for the homeless bro’… how the fuck is he meant to twitter?
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<3 u carles
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totes spotted that Sartbro blogpost b4. Kindof thought it was relevant to your interests.
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The man with the blue theme is wearing an expensive Brigadier General V-neck wool sweater – they’re generally at least $60-80 new or $20 at the bins… he’s dressing sharp, no doubt.
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woah christ…wtf is with those fashion people? I read over some of the comments on that blog post and nearly choked on my cheerios. R these people real? They see ’strength’ ‘dignity’ ‘pride’ and all that sort of meaningful shit in this photo. I see a bunch of fashion cretins willfully projecting a bunch of super-condescending labels on to some old dude who probably has schizophrenia or OCD, just so they can feel meaningful inbetween snorting coke and puking up their lunch salads into the toilet.
Carles even this blog at its most satirical could not top the comment section on that post. You should have just posted that instead.
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love this post. Its truth. I was homeless for a few years [via heroin addiction] and I was able to get out of it all [via some jail time and lots of hope & strength].
I am unusual though. Many homeless have severe mental problems which prevent them from being able to ever live in society. I think their mental illness makes it impossible for them to find and promote their ‘personal brand’.
Worst part about being homless is being ’shat upon by society’ [via getting kicked by cops to wake you up when youre sleeping somewhere outside, or people in public telling you how 'nasty' and 'pathetic' and 'useless' you are]
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You’re apathy is pretty sickening. Your response to homelessness makes me question if you have any attachment to other human beings at all
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A homeless crackhead parolee wearing an Ed Hardy sweatshirt tried to break into my house, twice on the same night. I chased him away at gunpoint. The cops identified and arrested him because he was the only homeless guy at the homeless camp wearing Ed Hardy. The moral of the story is that if you wear Ed Hardy, you may be arrested.
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I’m trying to parse my words here so I don’t rant, but OMG this is the most juvenile thing I have ever read. The fashion prick who took the gentleman’s photo was responding to aesthetics, color, pattern, etc. Things he is trained to do, yes, but he was not responding to the humanity in this situation. This is where fashion just needs to keep itself in check. There is no humanity in fashion – none. Period. End of story. It is surface design and 3D art – it is not grounded in anything else but that. I love fashion for those reasons. I realize people in that industry might have teeny little awakenings to reality from time to time – and in that respect they are infantile. So, I have to be patient with their insights – but gawd they are so lame I want to scream. You know what – the homeless guy gets IT. The rest of us do not. Life is a series of circumstances strung together with and without our input. Humanity and love of humanity, the struggle for basic dignities, the ability to transcend suffering whenever possible – these things are real and important. Fashion – as it exists now – ignore all of this and for that reason alone designers apparently cannot see human beings – they see only clothes and human forms as the necessary prop to carry said garments around. It is so sad.
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