Digital Photo Gallery of Ted Szukalski
Fine art digital photography, photographic news, reviews, articles and resources.

Old woman

Old woman and a bench

Don’t get fooled by the designer language this old woman has. She is not a wealthy visitor to Sydney. I have seen her roam the streets for a number of years now. She seems to be warmly dressed, which is a good thing as the temperatures in last few days have dropped significantly. She was sitting on this bench in the rain, tired and falling asleep for short periods of time.

With low temperatures I see a lot more homeless people begging for help. It seems their numbers have rapidly risen in just a week or two. The reality is winter on the streets is not kind and they simply need more nourishment.

June 16th, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | 2 comments

Three on a bench

Three on a bench

I have observed a couple of unrelated incidents today and yet I felt they were tied together under a banner of “acceptance”.

Firstly, in the morning, a homeless woman on the train sat on a three seater bench. She took the first seat thus block remaining two seats. Despite the carriage being full and many people had to stand no one dared or wanted to seat next her. She looked rough but otherwise seemed clean. Finally, a young man excused himself pass her and sat next to the window. She certainly did not like it and made sure he, and other people on the train knew about it. Admirably, he kept his cool. To my surprise, the woman preferred to stand up as she was not prepared to share the seat with anyone. I thought, she should have been glad he accepted for who she was and did not make any fuss about it. Obviously such acceptance meant nothing to her.

Few hours later a similar situation. A homeless man on a three seater bench was half laying across it watching a game of chess. Two Japanese ladies sat next to him. They have exchanged looks and all of them kept watching the game. Acceptance in this case was probably irrelevant as the interest in something in common was of higher importance.

May 27th, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | one comment

Catch 22

Catch 22

The sign of this beggar says: “I need to work to eat and I need to eat to work. Catch 22” and his second board says “No house, no home, no phone, brain damage, no family support, desperate”.

I must say when I saw him and these two signs I though these were the wittiest homeless boards I have seen to date. I wonder if he only knows the phrase of “Catch 22″ or has he also read the very cleverly written novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Heller demonstrates, in prosaic term, quite a philosophical dilemma, where little choice exists and although a remote possibility exists for desired to occur the reality is such that it never happens.

May 20th, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | 2 comments

Fundraiser for The Smith Family

This park has a dark side

I have been asked today to support this fund raiser. It is quite out of character for me as usually I post articles and photos that relate to things I encounter myself. I have looked at the fund raiser and although it has a clear commercial context decided to put my support behind it. It is very simple. Please watch a 30 or so seconds promotional video from Microsoft and they will donate $1 per viewer to support Learning for Life program.

How does it relate to the Hyde Park photo? Well this park has a very dark side. Beautiful by day it becomes a refuge for many young people by night. I would hope that some of charity money may prevent a young person from having to live there or allow them to leave this park behind them on a way to a more rewarding and full filling life.

Watch a short Microsoft Office 2007 Charity demo and Microsoft will donate $1 to The Smith Family

From May 15 2008, for every short Microsoft Office 2007 Charity demo that is viewed, Microsoft will donate $1 to The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program. Help Microsoft reach the $100,000 goal and Aussie kids get the education they need for a brighter future.

Visit http://www.Microsoft.com.au/donatenow for more information.

May 16th, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | one comment

Boots

Boots

I found it quite odd that someone has left these boots. In the city where there is an increasing number of homeless I would have thought these boots would be a priced possession considering the winter is not that far away.

May 15th, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | add comments

This is my turf

This is my turf

I have noticed this homeless man setting up in front of the old, abandoned Krispy Kreme shop few days ago and he has been there ever since. He seems to have a lot of colourful things around him.

May 9th, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | add comments

Houses for the homeless

Houses-for-the-homeless_MG_8419

I thought building a cardboard city in the middle of the Sydney’s Martin Place was a brilliant idea to generate awareness of homelessness in this city.

Go to the Houses for the homeless website. A simple click there will add a $1 for the cause at no cost to you!

May 2nd, 2008 Posted by Ted.Sz | Photography | add comments