Homeless at Christmas: Look into the faces of those living on the streets this December

THIS December take a moment to remember those who will be forced to spend Christmas day curled up on a street corner

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Shelter recently released figures for their 50th anniversary revealing that 255,000 people in the UK are homeless

It may sound melodramatic, but the reality is that hundreds of thousands of people will spend their Christmas queueing up for a single hot meal and cowering away from the cold.

Shelter figures show that in the UK approximately 255,000 people have no permanent home and on December 1 a homeless man was reported to have frozen to death on the coldest night of the year in the West Midlands.

On December 1 2016 a homeless man was reported to be found frozen to death on the streets

Shine Gonzalvez has spent the last few years capturing the faces of homeless people

Photographer Shine Gonzalvez has spent the last few years documenting the haunted faces of homeless people, capturing the rich personalities of those who are too often ignored.

She said: “We are aware of people being homeless at Christmas but we don’t pay enough attention to how they got there.

“I take photos of people on the streets all the time and there are people who have privately rented accommodation for 12 years and then their landlords sell up out from under them to make a quick buck.

The photographer usually breaks the ice with the offer of a cigarette

“There are all sorts of different homeless people; families, single people and those who are literally on the street.

“It’s not the council’s fault as they have nowhere to put them - so what do we do?”

Shine has captured the souls of homeless people in various countries including all over the UK, New York and across Spain.

The photographer usually breaks the ice with a cigarette before offering a few pounds and the chance to tell their story in exchange for a quick photo session.

One of her most memorable subjects was a Brighton man with crutches taking a rest on a monument’s step while crowds of Christmas shoppers hoard gifts in the background.

She always offers her subjects some money in exchange for their portrait

Shine said: “You had all these people dragging their Christmas shopping around and this guy was just in the front, down on his luck.

“You meet these guys whose joints are so painful after being out in the cold and dealing with substance abuse or malnutrition they have to use crutches or a walking stick.
“They seem to be in a lot of pain. We often see the mental pain of dealing with the trauma of being homeless, but they also deal with a lot of physical pain after being on the streets for years.”

This particular subject mistook her for a homeless person and offered to buy her coffee and some food

In an attempt to stem the tide, Shine has worked closely with StreetSouls - who also run the gallery Artful Pelican - to provide fresh food for homeless people living around St Stevens Church in Rochester Row.

Unfortunately, without food donations organisations like StreetSouls cannot even begin to feed and clothe the thousands of homeless people living on the streets, in hostels or in hotels during the festive period.

Trussell Trust provide a helpful map of Trust associated food banks all over the country, so this year take a break from Christmas shopping and cooking and pass on the festive spirit.

Gonzalvez added: “We always celebrate happy new year, but the questions is: what are people on the streets thinking? What do they have not look forward to next year?

“What new challenges will they have to deal with? Will they be able to cope?"