ABOUT THROUGH THE EYES OF THE HOMELESS

Heart Gallery NYC is a unique non profit organization that partners with notable and emerging photographers, who donate their talents to raise awareness of the plight of foster children in desperate need of permanent, adoptive families. 

This year, Heart Gallery NYC, in collaboration with the NYC Department of Homeless Services is expanding our mission and utilizing the high profile marketing capabilities and visibility of the Heart Gallery to launch the important initiative, Through the Eyes of the Homeless. 

Through the Eyes of the Homeless replicates the successful project, founded by the French non profit, Deuxieme Marche in Paris, as reported in The New York Times. To achieve our goals of empowering homeless individuals and raising awareness of the lack of affordable housing in NYC, our team of photographers has mentored homeless individuals, and encouraged them to photograph New York City as they see it. 

In 2015, we reached out to five professional photographers who have supported the work of Heart Gallery NYC in the past. They agreed to come on as mentors in the art of photography. Though our partnerships with several organizations that serve the homeless population, we identified 14 people who are or have recently been homeless to participate in the first year of the project as mentees. Working together, the mentees learned practical skills including camera operation, composition, perspective, subject selection, and more. 

After the initial training, the mentee photographer were sent out into the city to document and capture the things they found interesting. After spending time with their cameras and honing their skills, the mentees and mentors met again to discuss their work, identify the strongest images, and come up with captions or titles as appropriate. The resulting gallery of stunning and unique images is presented here and will be on exhibit in NYC. 

Through the Eyes of the Homeless utilizes photography to empower and raise awareness of individuals within the NYC homeless population. We hope that you will join us to make a difference in the lives of these forgotten and often misunderstood individuals