Information Resources for the Homeless

About the image collection

Information resources for the homeless | Images of hope - browse the collection | Information for the homeless | Food | Shelters | Jobs | Help for the homeless | Resources in North Carolina | Information on homelessness

About the collection

Hope for the homeless


"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good." Vaclav Havel

Hope.  There are a lot of quotes to be found on the subject of hope.  It has been described as a winged creature, is perceived as light, it is something that comes from others or something that is always safe within you.  It is something you look for in the first crack of dawn the morning after a long dark night.  Most of all hope can be something you create for yourself and others. 

The images contained in the hope for the homeless website were the product of much brainstorming and many roles of film. I knew upon entering a library science program that I wanted to do a project on the homeless. I have befriended a few homeless people and knew what some of their unmet needs were. The people I spoke to did not feel it was in their power to help themselves because they were cut out off from society and did not have key information that might have helped them. I had plans to create a handout for the homeless people I came across in my home town. The names of homeless shelters were not even published in the phone book in a logical place.



After I happened to hire a homeless woman who lived in a shelter I discovered she relied upon email and the internet to fight for the home she had been displaced from. She accessed her email from the downtown public library. She wore clean, immaculate clothes, had perfect posture and a neat bun. Come to think of it she fit a much fought against librarian stereotype. I decided at some point after that to make a website on resources for the homeless.


The first photographs were taken of the art work of others in August 2003 and the first version of this site was created in December 2003. After living with them for a few months I decided that the rain drops and poor lighting the day the photographs were taken were a bit depressing. I then began to try to create my own images to replace them. The image I needed could not alienate or exclude any social group. I was very aware that there was a central concept key to homelessness that was just eluding me. Speaking with a former homeless person one day, I was reminded of the word I had forgotten.


                                         Hope.




When nothing is left- it is very important to believe that there is still hope.


The scanning of the hope images took place in the SILS computer lab after numerous struggles with equipment and software at the Undergraduate library and the Student Union computer lab. The images were scanned at 600 dpi tiff format, 200 dpi (8 bit) jpg format and 80 dpi (8bit) jpg format. The scanning was done on an HP precision scan pro- hpscanjet 5470c. The scanning was all done at true color 16.7 million colors to adobe image ready. All images were in color and were essential to the atmosphere of the website. They were cropped slightly as appropriate. The image adjustments were done through levels and in some instances through brightness and contrast. The images were then re opened in adobe photoshop7 and saved in the above mentioned formats.

tallhope2200.jpg

 
The author reserves the right not to be responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.
All offers are not-binding and without obligation. Parts of the pages or the complete publication including all offers and information might be extended, changed or partly or completely deleted by the author without separate announcement.


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