Thank you for your very insightful comments on Wal-Mart. Your words are all very thought provoking.
I wanted to give you a second chance to sit with some of Tom Stone’s photographs. There are a few new ones on his webpage (some are incredibly disturbing) that we did not see in the show up in Feldman-Horn.
What did you think about our discussion in class? Did the photographs confirm or change your views?
I’m going to post his statement again, even though it is on his web page. What did you think of it? Did something resonate with you, upset you?
And lastly which photograph(s) moved you most or disturbed you most? I’d love to have some dialogue about poverty in America.
http://www.tomstonegallery.com/about/
To my thinking, the original human trauma is our separation. We are too close not to need each other; and too far to trust each other. We rely on dubious senses and clever devices to interact; but we are alone in our thoughts. Lonely, insecure and uncertain; we pair, we group, we associate. We try to belong and we seek to exclude. We form bonds by geography, religion, economy and otherwise. But it is all precarious. We come together and we drive apart.
And we climb our ladder. We step away from those who don’t belong and help those who do. We are connected rung by rung – though less and less – as we push and pull. But some do not climb; and below, the earth is littered with them. They fit too poorly. They stand apart. They stand without.
And what of them; these ones who don’t belong or who are excluded; who don’t fit or don’t try? Is there nothing they value? Is there nothing of them we value? I count it as a measure of our ignorance, the depth of poverty in the world. It’s a glaring marker to how far we have not come. Yet it has also driven our advance; on less fortunate backs and against less fortunate fate.
But is there really no connection there? Does such fate – whether choice or circumstance – speak nothing of us? Tell me we do more than advance in place; with so many left behind. Or promise me we can do better. Say we can reflect ourselves; us and them... That we can see the ways we overlap and distinguish the ways we grow apart. And pledge that we can learn; to fit all of our misshapes; to reward value beyond charity and beyond the marketplace; to be better to each other; to be better ourselves. And promise me it could be a better world. Or tell me we are at our best.
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26 comments:
Since I was the last one to post last time, I shall post first this time...
The Tom Stone exhibit was incredible. I found it difficult to look at the photographs sometimes because they are so haunting.
The ones that really stuck with me the most were the photos of Rebecca and Wayland. Rebacca, who was an accountant, lost her job due to downsizing. It's so sad that a woman so intelligent with a good job had to live in poverty after not being able to find a job.
Wayland clutching the teddy bear really connected with me. I can't quite describe it, but it's like, he doesn't deserve to live on the street.
Also, I remember the woman who had two sons, 20 and 35, and she lives off her SSI and doesn't want to trade it in for housing.
The exhibit definitely changed my views, because when Doc Roc asked everyone if they thought there was equal opportunity, I was the only one who said yes. BTWS, I take that back. After the exhibit, there is no way there is equal opportunity.
For confirmation class, we made about 600 sandwiches and brought them to downtown LA and gave them to all the homeless people. And even if they're on the streets because of drugs or laziness or just bad luck, it didn't matter because if that sandwich got them through the day (or the week) then it was fine.
Thanks Angela for your personal view and for allowing yourself to be impacted. That means so much to me.
Rock
every time we talk about poverty in america i am reluctant to say that no matter what, anyone who is poverty, whether it is their fault or not, deserves to have a shelter and food. I kept coming back to, this is a capitalist society, a meritocracy, and if one is lazy, its their fault.
As i came out of a practice sat test this morning i forgot my sweatshirt and i was freezing cold as the rain drenched me, i was shivering in fact,and thats when i thought about what we were talking about in class. I realized, it does not matter if poverty is society's fault, the individual's fault or anybody's fault. It doesnt matter who deserves what.. no human being should be on the street shivering, cold and freezing to death with no shelter to fall back on and no food to stop their hunger. At first, looking at those pictures of the poor, i didnt really make a connection
I was unsympathetic and sort of said to myself, well thats awful, but that is the way the world works. But when i remembered those people's faces, suffering, hungry,and depressed as i walked to my car this morning shivering drenched in rain, i realized that every human deserves something, at the very least food and shelter, no matter how lazy, unlucky or ill they are. Yes, merit and hard work should be the basis of how the individual advances in society, but no one who is not an inherently evil person deserves to suffer to the extent of complete homelessness and abandon.
Reading the Tom Stone statement, i was particularly disturbed wiht the honesty and candidness from the statement, "To my thinking, the original human trauma is our separation..but we are alone in our thoughts. Lonely, insecure and uncertain.." These words are probably the most disturbing yet real words i have ever read, and perosonally id rather be ignorant and know nothing abut it than know the truth and fully understand how alone we all are. All of our thoughts are separate form others, we dont know what is right, what is wrong, and how to deal with the insecurity abut not knowing our own thoughts.
I'm pretty sure that at first i was not very affected by the display, but now my views have suddenly changed. As humans we have a certain social contract with others to take care of them.. not to an unrealistic extent, but enough that people are at least sheltered and not dying in hunger. I used to think otherwise, but It jsut does not matter whose fault it is anymore.
that was cary
angela, i also think that the picture of rebecca stuck with me thinking back on it as well. she was not a result of laziness or disease, just pure bad luck as a result of downsizing. It is just unfair, and she shouldnt not be put out on the streets. With her suffering it does not matter who is to blame, the only thing that matters is the fact thta she is somewhat taken care of.
that was also cary
I don't think that my view has changed to any belief that poverty should be allowed. And his more graphic images (especially the one with the needle) just moves me even more. It really drives the benevolence inside of you to want to help, to want to do more.
I think that this exhibit has absolutely changed my thinking when it comes to the topic of poverty.
I love what Tom is doing, i respect his decisions, and i thank him for changing many of our, sometimes ignorant, minds...
-Nick Berman
Cary, I agree with you that I really appreciated Tom Stone's statement. He did put a lot of effort and thought into his statement, and I felt that led to honesty that impacts the way we think about our society.
The photo exhibit really struck me because it put its audience face to face with the reality of homelessness. When people see homeless people on the street, they often take the easy way out by ignoring them and avoiding eye contact, but the exhibit made this impossible. It made me think about how all of the people in the exhibit had their own stories and pasts and how they hoped for a better life just like everyone else.
-Harry
angela -
i agree that there definitely isn't equal opportuinity in america or anywhere else for that matter. the sad truth is that some people are born with advantages and others aren't. the photo exhibit really drove that point home.
-Harry
One thing that i wrote in my essay, that i felt like really applies is that our country was created on the idea of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (and in the late 19th century, early 20th century..this meant money b.c htey thought that $= :) ...
But should this greed/ endeavor come at the expense of another And thats exactly what we did to the Chinese and Indians and what we're doing to the Poor people in Tom's pictures.
I feel like if there was a Tom Stone of the Big Business Period, he would photograph the poor Indians with their land being taken or the Chinese trying to sneak in or upset over the recent Act banning any further immigration.
I really feel like the Wayland idea that Angela said really reminds me of the Native American stories...all of Tom's Characters struck me the same way that the Passages from Native Americans did.
Also, going on to Harry's point...many of us (and i am guilty of this too) avoid eye contact and ignore poor b.c they are poor, dirty, and have bad conditions...but isn't this the parallel of the Indians and Chinese of the time? Our Racism and Social Darwinism lead us to believe that they should be inferior and that therefore, we should ban them and take over their land and culture.
It's horrible to think about, but will we do the same thing to the poor? Should we just throw them out of the country? No..but this is the parallel of what happened in the early 1900s...
-NICK BERMAN
Going through the exhibit, I felt a new appreciation for all that I have. When I looked at the photos of these individuals, it was heart wrenching. Even though in some circumstances, people made choices to bring poverty upon themselves, you could not help but feel their pain.
Looking back at the photos on the website, the one of Roger in Oahu really stood out to me. Tom Stone said to this man that he spent part of his childhood in Oahu and Roger responded by saying he could show him the street he grew up on. Although these people are homeless now, many of them had better lives before. Looking at these faces instead of evading them as we do when we see them on the streets, made me feel more empathy and compassion for these individuals.
The photographs were most certainly moving and helped me to understand that there is more to these people than meets the eye.
harry,
I definitely agree with you in that having a face to associate with the reality of homelessness truly made an impact. Reading their stories, I really wanted to help them. It made me realize the huge disparity between the rich and the poor and that something needs to be done to try to lessen the hardships of poverty.
The Tom Stone exhibit really got to me. The photo and caption that really effected me the most was Gabriel. He was just a kid who thought he was just in a small part of his life. He had so much potential and seemed to like life. Where he was when he talked to Tom was just a stage he was going through, there was so much left for him to do.
Most of the people he talked to were so open about their lives. The one man who got a substantial amount of money gave it to his daughter. He knew that if he took it, he would just spend it on drugs and end up wasting away the money and his life. He was so generous to give the money to his daughter, because he knew she needed it and could use it more than he did. Being so selfless when you're living in poverty is something you don't find in everyone.
The people Tom talked to and took pictures of each had their own story. Each story had a great impact on how I thought of America's poverty. Every person was different, some chose to be where they are while others did not. The woman who lost her job due to downsizing thought she would get another job easily, but she didn't and that's why she is on the street today. Each person had different ideas on why they are where they are and handled it in different ways. Some of them like what they're doing and see it as a freeing experience.
Each persons story changed what I thought of homeless people in our area. People see them as scary or as bad people for not working harder to get a job. But, every single person that Tom talked to was a good person. None of them were menacing or scary. They all seemed to be nice and compassionate. It made poverty in America more real to me, rather than just some statement, it has meaning now.
-Claire
Alison,
I think what you said about people having better lives before is true and is something that really interested me. Each of these people have a home or somewhere where they belonged at one point. They talk about where they came from and how they have families. They have love in their hearts, they're not just scary homeless people who beg for money. They each came from somewhere where they had love and people cared about them. This makes them seem more real and makes me care about what happens to them.
-Claire
The gallery really moved me. It really showed me how the homeless people lived. Living in LA and being in the harvardwestalke community shelters us from seeing the poverty in america. always being around nice cars and people with nice houses, it was a reality check to see all the people that liv ein poverty. I feel really terrible that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the social gap will never end and only augment in our society. the gallery gave us a moment to reflect on the issues in our world that many people were unnnoticed due to the business in our lives.
--Nina Kim
Allison,
it was really touching and moving when we saw and went through the gallery together. I remember how we commented on the person who committed suicide after living homelessly for a couple of years. I think we both agree that poverty in america is a terrible and looming issue.
-- nina kim
that exibit is one of the most moving things i have ever seen. There were so many emotions that popped into my head when i saw those photos. The photo that made me the saddest was the pictures of Wayland. When i saw that picture of him as a woman and read the description i wass moved. I could feel his pain. I feel bad for the homeless. I do not think they all deserve their fate so i feel that we should help them
-Brandon Wilton
I agree with cary. the picture of rebecca also stood out for me. that was a woman who had been successful and then ended up homeless. it really brought to light that all people who are poor may have had sucess before and are hard workers. I allowed me to become more connected to the homeless
-Brandon Wilton
I feel like the photographs reaffirmed my view rather than changed them. While some would argue that its your own fault if youre homeless, the photos clearly showed otherwise. Many of those people were mentally handicapped, and I feel like our country and our society has a responsibility to care for these people. No one, regardless of the mistakes they've made in their life, deserves to be out in the cold every night without shelter. I personally felt that the most moving of the photos was the one that featured the man who train hopped, because he was just an average guy who was down on his luck, and it really showed not everyone living on the streets had some terrible event in their lives.
I thought that Tom Stone's portraits were beautiful and eye opening. Each portrait carried its own strong meaning, but something that I saw in picture after picture was a look in their eyes that conveyed to me Mr. Stone's message even more than his poem. They all carried that connection with the photographer and with the viewer that he has been so long trying to convey. I especially am thinking of two-- one of a man named lief and the other of an older black man whose name I can't remember-- who simply conveyed such deep understanding that it was impossible not to be moved. I think that his words were moving, but his images were imho far more powerful; each was truly worth many thousands of words.
Nick- I definitely agree with you that the situation of the homeless in America has many parallels with the tribulations of the Native americans. I think one key difference is that people pledge to improve the situation for the homeless on a near daily basis, and yes they remain downtrodden and forgotten. It is very disturbing to me that so much can be said and promised and yet so little done.
I think what is also important about Tom Stone's photos is that he focuses on the individual.
Sometimes, when we talk about society, we get so used to lumping everyone together. We're Californians, or we're upper middle class, we're always some sort of group, that we tend to lose sense of the individual, which really is something we should try to remember.
Ben, I feel like you perfectly captured the essence of the exhibit. I completely agree with you that the most moving part of each and every picture was the perfection with which he captured their eyes. On the other hand, I feel like without that stories that accompanied the pictures, one would be deprived of a significantly more meaningful experience.
The Tom Stone exhibit was very sad and powerful. Working at the homeless shelter this summer, I came into closs contact with homeless people. I think a lot of times we see homeless as just part of the surroundings, rather than as actual people with stories and experiences, and that to me is tragic. I agree with what many people have said that the eyes of the subjects were the most powerful. I also found it interesting to look at the people's skin, and think of all the hardships they have endured. Also, I like Stone's choice to take most of his photographs in black and white. It adds to the effect of his photos and helps get his message across
I also really like the passage Tom Stone wrote about his exhibition. Not only did it evoke a lot of emotion, it also had a very moving rhythm. Seeing the exhibition helped me put my life in perspective. I think that many times we don't realize how blessed we are. While we stress over SATs, colleges, grades, etc, there are people who live not too far from us who have to worry about where they will spend the night or what they will eat the next day. Poverty is a big problem in America, and it is our responsibility to help the impoverished as much as we can
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