Skid Row
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Indian Alley Portrait near 5th Street A woman requested that her portrait be taken near her favorite mural, directly beneath her favorite poet, Charles Bukowski. Bukowski famously hung out at The KIng Eddy Saloon, a half block away.
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Pepper"s Hands
Gladys Avenue between 5th and 6th Streetsg
Genevine on Towne Avenue near 6th Street, Ski d Row, Los Angeles Genevine gestures angrily in response to a police car seen parked on her street.
Victoria
Victoria sits in a doorway, on Wall Street lighting a crack pipe. She would smoke, and become almost unresponsive, changing from the effusive, affectionate, and charismatic rabble rouser she was normally into a silent shell. Victoria was a sex worker, and had been on Skid Row for nearly twenty years, since the age of 19.
Norma
Victoria's tattoo of her mother's name, Norma, sits on her deeply bruised leg. Victoria doesn't talk about how the bruises got ther, and is silent when asked. Her grief became overwhelming when we met, and her usual extremely tough exterior, necessary for life on Skid Row, had crumbled.
Victoria dances on 6th Street near Towne Avenue. Victoria had been living with her girlfriend at this location. She moved often, staying at a location for no longer than a month or two, bouncing from place to place.
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Victoria lights a cigarette as she begins to talk about her mother, Norma. She had been struggling with grief after her mother died from CKD(chronic kidney disease)brought on by kidney failure from drug use.
Victoria on Wall Street. Victoria carries roses on her way to see her boyfriend, who lives in an SRO nearby. She is a swx worker, and her feet are deeply painful from wearing high heeled shoes on the uneven streets of Skid Row.
Doreen on Towne Avenue near 5th Street in the late afternoon sun.Doreen hangs out on Towne Avenue, getting ready for the night as a swx worker on Skid Row. She is smoking from a glass tube used for crack cocaine. Doreen was vibrant and full of life on this day, and spent hours making herself up. She could be seen in various places throughout downtown, applying makeup, chatting with passerby.
Doreen on Towne Avenue near 5th Street in the late afternoon sun.Doreen hangs out on Towne Avenue, getting ready for the night as a sex worker on Skid Row. She is smoking from a glass tube used for crack cocaine. Doreen was vibrant and full of life on this day, and spent hours making herself up. She could be seen in various places throughout downtown, applying makeup, chatting with passerby.
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Doreen and Gary in their tent one afternoon on Towne Avenue in Skid Row
Baudelaire Is Everywhere
Christine reads Baudelaire on Crocker Street at 3rd.Christine is an artist, and I met her for the first time on this day, applying makeup on the sidewalk along Los Angeles Street.She has schizophrenia and is addicted to heroin.She came from a home where she was subjected to severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect, and wound up on the street as a teenager.
Christine on Towne Avenue
Christine gets ready to inject heroin after visiting the needle exchange on 4th street. She picked up a new coat from the exchange, and sits with it on her lap. The needle exchange provides safe works, food, clothes and medical care. Christine struggles with past abuse and trauma, addiction and schizophrenia.
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Christine on Towne Avenue near 4th Street. she has nowhere to go and has all of her belongings in her suitcase. she must stay near the needle exchange on 4th street because of the support and care they offer, here she sits and contemplates her situation, wondering where she will sleep, and how she will transport and keep her belongings safe from theft.
Bridget
Bridget stands at the corner of 5th and San Pedro. She is taking a break from her recycling activities....she spends hours each day, pushing a shopping cart loaded with recyclables. Cans, bottles, metal, plastic, anything at all that she can sell by weight at the recycling center located on Alameda. She routinely digs through garbage bins and mountains of trash piled at street corners to mine for bits she can sell.
Bridget searches the dumpsters on Skid Row for anything she can gather to recycle. She spends a lot of time in dumpsters,sifting through layers of putrid garbage for anything she can salvage.
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Bridget on San Pedro as she pushes her shopping cart full of recyclables.
bridget
Bridget stands in front of her home, a tent located on Gladys Avenue. She lives alone and has managed for many years on one of the most dangerous and chaotic streets on skid row. drug sales, trafficking and daily violence are a part of her existence.here she is pictured after handwashing her clothing in a bucket.
5th And Main Streets, DTLA A woman carries her favorite chair from the recesses of Skid Row to a place she likes to sit, in front of a deli that was located at 5th and Main Streets.