Demystifying the image of homelessness portrayed in the media
Portrayals of homelessness have always been characterized by stereotypes, whether it be a drunk man who smells and always seems to be sleeping out on the streets or the one who we assume to be a drug addict. The media often sheds a negative light on the homeless people, treating them as if they are less than people who are not, well, homeless. What they fail to show, even through their captured images and vivid news telling, is the fact that homelessness is a result of a bigger problem that our society and economy have yet to work on. The news often stays fixated on these generalizations of homelessness with the intention of viewing these experiences only through the lens that these issues are just part of the status quo. This imagery is what causes people to stray away from the people we often see on the streets, not even shooting them a look of acknowledgment. It’s because these issues of homelessness are just part of the norm. Homeless people are often called “dangerous”, but they are just people, like everyone else, that deserves every right to a proper way of life.
The question here is: how do we demystify this image that is so embedded in everyone’s heads? Pointing out stereotypical imagery of homelessness in news articles and reportings is one thing, but there’s more to that to demystify the image as a whole. How do we break down these stereotypes? Like everything, the beginning steps always start with research. Research into why and how these stereotypes came to be is so important when it comes to social issues, such as homelessness. We have to understand the language the media uses to portray homelessness to respond to it, specifically to debunk it. After doing my research, I have concluded that in order to demystify the stereotype, I need to find ways to portray the real story — lived experiences, first-hand accounts of those who have lived and are living through homelessness.
An article from The Guardian discusses the stereotypical portrayals of homelessness and how it translates directly to the general public. The article titled “Advocates for homeless people say media coverage ‘fuelling fear’ in Melbourne” particularly discusses the backlash an article from the Herald Sun has received, claiming that the media focuses less on the lack of affordable housing and employment opportunities that cause homelessness and more on the images of people sleeping in the streets.
After doing my research, I have concluded that in order to demystify the stereotype, I need to find ways to portray the real story — lived experiences, first-hand accounts of those who have lived and are living through homelessness.
There are several organizations that focus on telling the lived experience of homelessness, both through words or different art forms. Picturethehomeless.org is an organization founded by two homeless men, Anthony Williams and Lewis Haggins Jr., that focuses on shifting the narrative about why people are homeless. According to Picture the Homeless’ mission statement, the organization “…was founded on the principle that homeless people have civil and human rights regardless of our race, creed, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, or economic, disability, or migration status.” The organization works to tell the real narrative of homelessness through pictures and words, as opposed to the media headlines that create a social stigma upon homeless people. They hope to counteract these headlines that demonize homeless people by “challenging images, stigma, media (mis) representation — as well as putting forward an alternative vision of community.”
Picture the Homeless is just one out of several organizations to reference when conducting a project that not only demystifies a media stereotype but tells a genuine story of homelessness. Photographer Lee Jeffries made it a personal goal to rid of homeless stereotypes by capturing the stories and lifestyles of people they come upon in the streets. Thus he centered his narrative about one certain individual rather than grouping all homeless people under one label, which is something the media does often. There is also the community project by an organization called Coming Home Middlesex which invites Rutgers students to teach photography to homeless people so that they can document their own lives through photographs. This gives homeless people a chance to tell their own story without the need for a secondhand interpretation of somebody else, through their own lens.
I am inspired by photographers who want to use it as a creative platform to give homeless people a voice. A voice that is often undermined by stereotypical images and headlines that are publicized by the general media. My installation will weaken the power of these stereotypes and will make an effort towards sharing the voice of homeless people through creative mediums. It will be structured like a gallery, where the focus will be seeing this juxtaposition upon first sight. There will be captions provided, but the viewer should be able to immediately notice the contrast between stereotypical news articles and the real-life experiences of homeless people. As for the digital aspect of the project, I will include a separate section exclusively for research materials, sources, resources, and links that direct the viewer to organizations or other artists that work towards advocating for the rights of homeless people and counteracting common media portrayals of homelessness.
