Jun 26, 2009

put yourself in my placeless place

another one straight from Osocio
not quite as creepy as the last, but still, a bit bizarre
do you think this works to make the invisible visible?
is it effective at humanizing?
is this really how empathy works?
would this inspire YOU to solidarity?

Weingart Homeless Center: Before you turn away put yourself in my place

imageTo raise awareness for the Weingart Homeless Center, agency David & Goliath from Los Angeles took a non traditional approach that made people imagine themselves homeless if only for a moment. They photographed a dozen of the 70.000 people living on the streets of Los Angeles. They gave each of them a blank cardboard sign and had them write the same message: Before you turn away, put yourself in my place. Followed by the URL, weingart.org. Then they took those images, blew them up life-size, removed their faces and made them into photo-realistic cardboard cutouts. They placed the cutouts in upscale shopping centers in Bevery Hills and Santa Monica. Soon the homeless could not be ignored. This project not only raised awareness, but it ultimately raised funds according to David & Goliath.




Weingart Homeless Center: Before you turn away put yourself in my place

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for these posts Sarah. I think this one is creepy in a different way ;) E.g: there are no 'real' homeless people in said swanky neighbourhoods because they would be arrested or otherwise removed.... - ana australiana