Emily

Martin: “So you’re living on the street?”

Emily: “I live in my truck, yes. It’s a big suburban.”

M: “How long have you been living in the truck?”

E: “I got the truck about a year and a half ago. So before that I was a hitchhiker and I went all over the country. I’ve been to Pennsylvania, so beautiful.”

M: “All by yourself?”

E: “Well no, it was with my boyfriend. I never travel alone because I’m a girl and I think that can be very dicey.”

M: “And looking for a job? Is that tough out here?”

E: “I found a job. I work at Panera Bread. And they just recently found out that I live in my truck, but I always keep myself very clean. I shower regularly. They don’t mind ‘cause they know I’m trying to step up and get an apartment. I’m not gonna stay in my truck forever.”
© 2024 Martin Schoeller


Overview
Homeless

On the street corner of Sycamore and Romaine in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, Martin photographed the homeless throughout 2015 for Hollywood Food Coalition (formerly known as the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition), which was co-founded by friends Ted and Penny Landreth. The coalition provides many services, but notably, they have been serving hot meals made from scratch every single day for over thirty years. Through partnering with the Hollywood Food Coalition, Martin photographed and interviewed over three hundred individuals.

“Most of the people in this series are clients of the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition. I wanted to give them a face and a voice. The interviews are recorded on my phone and then transcribed. Sometimes it’s a five-minute exchange, other times it’s over an hour - it all depends on how much somebody wants to share with me. The interviews were then condensed to fit the Instagram format, as this series was shared on the platform. Editing is always subjective, but I try to present these interviews as authentically as possible, using only direct quotes from our conversation.

I am very grateful for everyone’s trust and time.”
– Martin Schoeller

For more portraits and stories, please visit Martin’s Instagram here.