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Skid Row

© Suzanne Stein


Skid Row is located in Los Angeles, California. It has a very large population of homeless people packed in to a relatively small and squalid area, just over four square miles. It has become a repository for those that American society has no place for. The thousands of people who live in the neighborhood are a diverse population that defy attempts to categorize them. The first time I saw Skid Row was because I had gotten lost while driving through downtown Los Angeles. The experience of seeing people of all ages—many in various states of undress, wandering aimlessly in the middle of every street and intersection, some clearly severely mentally ill, others intoxicated, developmentally disabled, or emotionally disturbed, some violent—is life altering. The sounds of laughter and fighting and screaming blended with the odor—of trash, sewage, smoke and a sometimes overpowering odor of urine. People sitting in chairs, grouped on the sidewalks, laying in the streets, performing personal rituals not often seen in public places, many in wheelchairs, missing limbs, contortions and tics and every facial expression imaginable form a kaleidoscope of suffering and joy and despair and hope.

The images in this series tell a fragmented story, pictures narrated visually by the incredible, vibrant people who granted me the privilege of photographing their daily lives. Sometimes a short series is all that’s possible, because of the instability of the people involved, or even just a single image is all that’s possible. A few of those in these images have passed away, or become lost or gone missing. Some were never seen again, giving the gift of their photograph and story before disappearing.

click the link to view the complete set of images in the archive



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