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HIHI Photography Project
Rob Goldman teaches photography to Long Island's homeless, Huntington, New York
“In my spiritual journey, I have unearthed the divinity of my own purpose, a truth I can no
longer ignore. I have just begun to realize my responsibility as a privileged, white, American
male, and with that, the power bestowed upon me — to save, to love, to have compassion,
to heal, to free, and to keep faith with my brothers who quite literally sleep in the dust…on a
good day. On a bad day, they will be found shivering on a scrap of discarded cardboard in
the icy snow, not in the bowels of some far-off, politically torn regime, but a mere 3 miles
from where I live, in Huntington, New York, a town whose median annual household income
is over $110,000!”
“There is no “they”, no abstract entity to call upon to do the difficult work. “They”, “he” or “she” is none other than you and I, we the people, in community. We, a congregation of able-bodied men and women whose collective eternal might stands the only chance of bringing freedom to the captive, the deprived and the discouraged. "Alone we can do so little,” advised Helen Keller, “together we can do so much.”
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Aliens in the house of Egypt, aliens in the house of Palestine, aliens in the house of Warsaw. As Jews, we certainly know what it means to be unwelcome. We know what it means to be hated and unjustly discriminated against. And we know what it means to struggle. Or do we? Most of us know of no such affliction. Too often, we of blessed fortune, lament the plight of our ancestors from cloistered sanctuaries and Posturepedic mornings. But things change when you stare into the hollow eyes of men roused from air mattresses at 4:30 am, shuttled to barren, frozen streets with no more hope than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a day’s wages…on a good day.
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On a bad day they could surely wind up like their friend, Orlando, 22-years-old, alone, frozen to death in the woods. I no longer take for granted my cozy home, daily hot showers and cuddles on the couch. Rather they remind me of just how just fragile our existence is, and how history has proven that in one incomprehensible heartbeat, I too could be standing in those same shoes.
The conversations I am interested in rousing are not those of blanket policies and philosophies; they are about real names attached to real faces and the incontrovertible rights of every human being, beginning with the men whose photographs you see before you — Alexander, Miguel, Gil, Alex, Rufino, José, Marcus, Amado. May their art open doors to vital, often difficult conversations of strife and promise, of pride, hope and dignity, and of creating purpose in life…yours, theirs and mine.
– Rob Goldman
A commentary by journalist, Tes Silverman
The word “service” is often used to describe tasks performed with expectations of praise or compensation. Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative (HIHI) defines service in rather different terms. For HIHI, service means giving back. It does so via a collective of more than 25 local congregations and religious institutions, who ensure that the homeless of Huntington Township have food and a safe, warm place to sleep during the coldest winter months.
Days after his viewing Born Into Brothels, a documentary based on a woman teaching photography to children of prostitutes in India, Goldman swung into action. An internationally published photographer and teacher himself, Goldman decided to put his talents to work in a brand new arena; as part of his graduate school studies, he would teach these men the art of photography. This he felt could help bring him in touch with a world that seemed incredibly alien. He wondered, “Can I give these men a chance to share their life with me through photography and at the same time share their story with the world?”
From December through March 2008, the men received disposable cameras at their weekly lessons. The cameras came back filled with hauntingly beautiful images of life on the other side of tracks. Goldman led critiques, lectures and demonstrations, as translators (some more fluent than others) struggled to convey the subtleties of his teachings to a mostly non-English-speaking student body. “When I taught, they were completely there,” remarked Goldman, “grasping the concepts I was teaching and applying them week after week. Their growth as photographers has been remarkable!”
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