Poetry by Krisann Janowitz, Photography by Harvey Finkle
Krisann Janowitz – “I wanted to show my readers that those we label as “bums”, “hobos”, “beggars”, etc are just people, like you and me. That is what I have experienced through befriending members of a tent city in Bucks County and that is what all too many of us forget when we walk by men and women laying on our city’s sidewalks, asking for money.”
Harvey Finkle – “In the beginning, I walked streets and eventually would end up on Skid Row, Philly’s Bowery, and meet those living on the street or 25cent a night rooming houses. It was enlightening to learn this was not a group monolithically depicted as alcoholics or disturbed individuals. Their reasons for dropping out were much more varied than our conventional wisdoms. For months, I photographed these casualties, motivated by the same feelings conveyed in these powerful poems.”