The Potential Fate of the Homeless in America
Photographer: John Simpson
Exhibit Title: The Potential Fate of the Homeless in America
Location: United States
Like many of you, I despise the Orwellian tactics presently in use by President Trump and his fawning loyalists. The limits to which this administration is willing go in following the dictates of Project 2025 are clear; what is not clear is what it will do to those individuals such as the homeless it does not want.
I am a documentary photographer in Olympia, Washington who for the past several years has used my photography to chronicle the plight of the homeless. Since Trump’s inauguration, I have dedicated my work to warning about the repetition of the dark lessons of American history where human beings (Indigenous peoples, Japanese-Americans and Black Americans) were forcibly relocated to detention centers.
Given his prior statements about the homeless, I think Trump will order the relocation of the homeless, 31 of whom are presented in this exhibit.
As Catherine Opie once observed, “The reason I call myself a documentary photographer is the idea of how photographs contain and participate in history.”
And to keep it from repeating.
Many documentary photographers are like the proverbial canaries in a coal mine – their work signals that something is very wrong. In some instances, their images warn of growing social issues such as poverty, inequality and discrimination, to name a few.
In the current climate characterized by the erosion of our democracy through Orwellian tactics – as outlined in Project 2025 – it stands to reason that documentary photographers should and must use their art to fight this administration’s campaign against immigrants, the physically and mentally challenged, members of the LGTBQ+ community, the homeless and others.
For over two years, I have documented the plight of homeless individuals in Olympia, Washington. What follows is my attempt is to raise an alarm as to what may happen to the homeless in this country.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. By doing so, he authorized the creation of military zones from which Japanese Americans were excluded; the forced removal of all Japanese Americans living in those zones; and the relocation of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps.
Documentary photographers Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams and Toyo Miyatake captured three different views of what these individuals, many of whom who were American citizens, experienced. Their work serves as a warning of what the atmosphere of ignorance, hatred and dishonesty can lead to.
Unfortunately, this dark lesson of relocating marginalized groups has reappeared in numerous statements made by Trump during his campaign about how he wants to relocate the homeless to detention centers located in rural areas.
"When I am back in the White House, we will use every tool, lever and authority to get the homeless off our streets. We want to take care of them, but they have to be off our streets …. We will then open up large parcels of inexpensive land, bring in doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, and drug rehab specialists, and create tent cities where they homeless can be relocated,” Mr. Trump said in a campaign video.
Given his numerous statements about the relocation of the homeless and scope of executive orders signed by this president, it is not improbable that Secretary Scott Turner, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be directed to devise a plan to relocate 771,000 homeless Americans to federally administered sites. This would be a fundamental violation of human rights.
“Forcing folks into detention camps is not an okay solution …” said Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center.
“The solution is not detention camps The solution is city, state and federal elected officials doing their jobs and ensuring that everyone has a safe place to live.”
It remains to be seen if the history of the internment of American citizens repeats itself. But a precedent exists, and documentary photographers such as ourselves must raise the alarm about the relocation of any marginalized group in this country.
jmsimpson1@gmail.com
(253) 414-4678
Make Comment/View Comments
