Vagabond

The Project

Introduction | The Process | The Book | The Exhibition

A Work of Art in Constant Evolution

This project brings together a remarkable collection of raw images, thousands of pictures, taken by homeless people from all across America, detailing their lives, surroundings and conditions.
The author, William Edwards, provides the narrative which describes in detail the pictures that were taken and the meaning behind them. In addition, three different size exhibitions will tour the country appearing in museums, universities, and other relevant settings.

“This book is a collection of my stories, a collection of their stories and most importantly a collection of their pictures. These are theirs. I did not take any of these pictures. I wasn’t even there when they were taken. I don’t know who these people are, and honestly I don’t know where most of them were taken. All I know is in what city they were taken and maybe a few names from those that I met personally. This is what they see every day. This is their lives documented.”

“I wondered what it must be like to be truly homeless. No bed, no food, really nothing at all. I wondered if they see the world much differently than we do. Do they see sunsets? Or do they think that a puppy in the window is as cute as we think it is? I really wondered about this and more importantly I wondered how can I see what they see... what do their eyes see? How can I get these images from them and not of them? Then it came to me. Give them a camera. Just let them take pictures of their everyday lives. It would take me more than a year to hand these out one by one to people around the country, and that’s just what I started doing.”

William Edwards

This innovative project is a collection of thousands of pictures taken by homeless individuals all across the country which document their lives, their surroundings and the stark reality of what they see. These pictures are part of a larger body of work which explores what it means to be homeless in America.