When a house becomes a home: Submitted by Stephen Uhraney

My name is Stephen Uhraney, I am a Toronto based documentary photographer.

Recently I made way through the doors of downtown Toronto’s Seaton House, the large shelter that offersmedical assistance and life skills training to homeless men with a range of needs,including very poor health, drug and alcohol problems, and mental illness.

My goal? To not only get a better sense of the inner workings of Seaton House, but to also learn more about its clients—to understand who they are as people, not as ugly stereotypes. Many stories have been done on the homeless and they all have the same clichéd slant Wino’s living on the street, not doing anything but getting drunk and beggingfor money.

Seaton House is a refuge for the guys, a safe place to stay and get help. You hear stories about the place and you feel apprehensive about going in. What surprised me was how unscary it really is. Everybody was great, from the staff to the clients. So that’s the direction I took: Show Seaton House for the great place it really is, and how dedicated the staff are to looking after these guys.

I happily spent several days interacting with the men there, feeling their friendliness and enthusiasm for my project, and their appreciation for the care they receive from doctors and staff. It was an eye-opening experience to be allowed inside with a camera, and I hope to be able to go back and do more.

Some of the stories were heartbreaking though. One client, Brian, who is quite ill, was so open to having his picture taken and telling his story that it tugged at the heart. The picture above is of Brian T. a patient of Dr.Svoboda. Brian has been homeless and living on the street for over 20 years, he has Hepatitis C, and due to complications from his illness he has less than two years to live.

He has requested that upon his death, his body be donated to medical research.

Make a wish

Submitted by Loulou d’Aki

This story, Make a Wish, tells todays’ life in the Yeshiva Chabad Lubavitch of Venice, where young men from all around the globe come to continue their studies of the Torah and the Talmud. It is estimated that there are presently more Jews studying in Yeshivot than at any other time in history. These students belong to one of the biggest orthodox movements of Hasidic Judaism, which has its base in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY. They have been studying Jewish Law since the age of 4, and they are now living their first experience abroad. Most of them are yet too young to have a clear idea of what is ahead. I ask them to make a wish, to tell me about their dreams and visions. It is clear that, whatever profession they will choose and wherever they will live with their wife and children, they will keep on carrying the weight of their Torah. The main commitment is with God.

My pictures are talking about the magic of time. Make a wish is the third chapter of a worldwide investigation on the dreams of the youngsters in the 21st century planetary world. Each chapter is represented by a group of people or by a situation that can be directly connected to it, in order to understand at which level origin, history, cultural heritage, religion, climate and geographic position might influence the young.

By consigning their dreams, history meets the present and the future as the notion of time is finally revealed.

About the photo: An orthodox man puts on his tefillin three times a day to say his prayers.
The tefillin help him stay connected with God and are not to be worn on Shabbat or on holidays.

My name is Keith Harris-Chicago based documentary and street photographer. I am working on a photo-essay entitled “On the Street.”

This essay is a series of images that document the people that call the streets of Chicago home. I have become quite “friendly” with quite a few of the homeless people in Chicago and would like to share one of my most recent shots.

This particular photo is of Little John and Joe on Wells Street in Chicago. I appreciate your consideration of my photo, and after I have finished this project I look forward to submitting the essay to your website.

An man examines a suit of Samurai armour in a display case in Nomura Samurai House,  Kanazawa, Japan.
 
I was working on a travel piece about Kanazawa and exploring the old Samurai district. In the entrance area of one of the old houses a suit of armour is on display. Many tourists would come and go shuffling through the house to look at the beautiful garden and the rooms but the men especially would stop and look at the armour for the longest time. The house was quite crowded due to it being a national holiday and in the end I had to ask one old man to pose for the shot during a quiet moment. The other shots were just too messy with people. To me it sums up the Kanazawa character, a place where you really do come face to face with Japan`s Samurai past.
 

See more of Damon’s work at www.damoncoulter.com.

I was heading back to the office after covering the Democrats election celebration party and came across this image. I kinda like it. What do the rest of you think?

“I was at the Detroit Institute of Arts for their Friday night concert series. This father was sitting near me in the Diego Rivera Courtyard with his two daughters. Their love for one another was so touching that I couldn’t resist taking their picture. Three weeks later I saw them again and received the father’s OK to share this photo online.” — Particia Lay-Dorsey

“Fire Dancer”

Hillary Atiyeh, one of David Allen Harvey’s Emerging Photographers, shot this image in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. 

View more of her work at www.hillaryatiyeh.com/.

Andrew Spearin is based in Toronto, doing photography and videography work for The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and National Post.

“I arrived in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, at the beginning of September.  I live downtown on Bay Street, which is the financial centre of Canada.  I decided to explore this aspect of my new home, and this particular frame was taken in September – days before the start of the ongoing global economic chaos.” 

Andrew’s portfolio can be found at www.andrewspearin.ca and his blog at www.andrewspearin.ca/journal