Photographing The Homeless

The CBS News program, “Sunday Morning”, had a great story this past Sunday (Nov. 29th). It’s about 20-year-old Canadian photographer Leah Denbok who has been photographing homeless people since she was 15. She’s really quite good. Her portraits are hauntingly beautiful and really give a face to the homeless who we often treat as invisible.  She’s already had three books of her portraits published. Take a look.

I’ve never been a big fan of photographing the homeless as it seemed exploitative. However, given the interaction she has with the homeless including asking permission first and donating the profits from her books to charities benefiting the homeless I don’t see her work as exploitative.

What are your thoughts on photographing the homeless? Is it exploitative? Have you ever photographed the homeless? Comment below.