Tristan Carax
Martin: “Tell me your name again?”
Tristan: “I go by Tristan.”
M: “I photographed you half a year ago, right?”
T: “It was less than a year, you were here in the Spring.”
M: “It seems like you like this area.”
T: “I’m just here for the food most of the time.”
M: “There’s a lot of crystal meth around here.”
T: “Yeah, unfortunately. I don’t do it. I’m homeless, I’m not…It doesn’t mean I’m on drugs.”
M: “I never thought you were. You don't consider weed a drug?”
T: “Nope. With all the propaganda that’s going around about weed. The government needs their funding.“
M: “I think it’s going to be legal everywhere soon anyways.”
T: "I wish it wasn’t legal. I wish it was decriminalized. There’s a difference. When it’s legalized the government is still gonna force people to pay them money. And we can’t grow it where we should be growing it, everywhere. It can be used for so many things, medicine, and making stuff and… Before the 1920s it was in all of our medicine. But then the Rockafellers and those sorts of people, the Carnegies, started taking that over and that is a large portion of the reason why we have pharmaceutical shit [drugs] being handed out to people like candy.”
Tristan: “I go by Tristan.”
M: “I photographed you half a year ago, right?”
T: “It was less than a year, you were here in the Spring.”
M: “It seems like you like this area.”
T: “I’m just here for the food most of the time.”
M: “There’s a lot of crystal meth around here.”
T: “Yeah, unfortunately. I don’t do it. I’m homeless, I’m not…It doesn’t mean I’m on drugs.”
M: “I never thought you were. You don't consider weed a drug?”
T: “Nope. With all the propaganda that’s going around about weed. The government needs their funding.“
M: “I think it’s going to be legal everywhere soon anyways.”
T: "I wish it wasn’t legal. I wish it was decriminalized. There’s a difference. When it’s legalized the government is still gonna force people to pay them money. And we can’t grow it where we should be growing it, everywhere. It can be used for so many things, medicine, and making stuff and… Before the 1920s it was in all of our medicine. But then the Rockafellers and those sorts of people, the Carnegies, started taking that over and that is a large portion of the reason why we have pharmaceutical shit [drugs] being handed out to people like candy.”
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 Instagramhere.
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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
Martin Schoeller’s Portraits of Homeless People in L.A., Time, USA
A Celebrity Portrait Artist Photographs L.A.’s Homeless, National Geographic, USA
Photographer Aims to Raise Homelessness Awareness Through Stunning Portrait Series, People, USA
Photographer Martin Schoeller’s Newest Subject: L.A.’s Homeless, Los Angeles Magazine, USA
When A Celebrity Photographer Turns His Lens to Homeless People, Buzzfeed, USA
Martin Schoeller: Interview, The Photographic Journal, USA
A Celebrity Portrait Artist Photographs L.A.’s Homeless, National Geographic, USA
Photographer Aims to Raise Homelessness Awareness Through Stunning Portrait Series, People, USA
Photographer Martin Schoeller’s Newest Subject: L.A.’s Homeless, Los Angeles Magazine, USA
When A Celebrity Photographer Turns His Lens to Homeless People, Buzzfeed, USA
Martin Schoeller: Interview, The Photographic Journal, USA