Finding Grace: The Face of America’s Homeless, photographer Lynn Blodgett

The Face of America's HomelessFinished 9-26-08, rating 3/5, photography, pub. 2007

This is a coffee table book with a social conscience attached.  Blodgett went around the country to a dozen different cities and visited homeless shelters so he could photograph the people who used them to survive.  The photographs are all in black and white and he lets the photos alone tell the story.  I felt that he could have included more details about the people.  The photographs compelled me to want to know more, which may be the point, but it was a little unsatisfying.

The forward had some interesting statistics about the homeless (I wish I could include them, but I’ve lost the paper I wrote them down on) and it was heartbreaking to read how many are children, families, and women escaping abusive relationships.

I think this book is perfectly timed.  With the current forclosure rates and the state of our ecnomy as a whole, I think only more of our fellow citizens will be joining the plight of the homeless. 

This is not a book to lift your spirits or rattle of numbers and stories about the homeless.  This is a book to look into the faces of the forgotten, to appreciate what you have, and then to question how you might be able to help those people who need it.

This would probably be a great gift for photographers.

2 thoughts on “Finding Grace: The Face of America’s Homeless, photographer Lynn Blodgett”

  1. bermudaonion says:
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    BermudaOnion's avatar

    Books like that can be difficult to read (it’s hard to admit that we have problems like that in our country) – but also necessary. It sure gives makes me think about all I have to be thankful for.

    There wasn’t much to read. There were three forwards and then just the photographs until the few pages at the end. I finished it on my shift today at the library because there was so little reading. The photos were so real and wonderful and sad. It definitely made me grateful for the roof over my head and the food in my frig. How many times a day do we take that for granted?

  2. Green says:
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    Green's avatar

    There are some fascinating time limits on this article but I don’t know if I see all of them heart to heart. There is some validity but I’ll take hold opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish more! Added to FeedBurner as effectively

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