Jason

Jason: “It depends on how they do it [meth]. Now somebody that shoots it in the vein can basically…it can last up to three days to four days and…I’m talking about you’re going on for days…No sleep for three days. That's how I did my paralegal work.”

Martin: “Paralegal work? You used to be a paralegal?”

J: “Yeah, at a law firm.”

M: “So when you had a lot of work to do, you would smoke a little?”

J: “I would shoot it. I would shoot it and then basically I’d stay up working on a case.”

M: “You had a full time job as a paralegal?”

J: “Yeah and then I was going to movie sets and then basically I was doing porn on the side.”

M: “As an actor?”

J: “That's what I love. I wanna get back into it right now. So basically I am on [website name withheld] right now though. As an escort. I’m working my way back into it.” 
© 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.