Turning Art into Action: Inside Leah den Bok’s 10-Year Journey to End Homelessness
/
The saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. But in photographer Leah den Bok’s hands, an image can change someone’s mind, life, or even the world.
Since beginning her career at age 15, Leah has garnered an international reputation as a photographer, author, speaker, and advocate for those experiencing homelessness. What started as a portfolio-building exercise soon evolved into a mission to debunk stereotypes and shed light on the real stories of those experiencing homelessness — a transformative path she continues to travel today, nearly a decade later.
In 2017 and 2018, Leah crystalized her mission in the first two volumes of Nowhere to Call Home books, published in partnership with FriesenPress. Leah’s first foray into the field shattered her perceptions of unhoused persons; the Nowhere to Call Home series and Humanizing the Homeless project similarly exist to change the general public’s perception of those experiencing homelessness on the margins of our society. Leah also donates 100% of the proceeds from the books to shelters she works with.
Today, Leah continues to do her important work as a now-twice traditionally published author, artist, and speaker. As part of our 15th anniversary celebration, we caught up with Leah to learn how her mission has evolved over the years since self-publishing with FriesenPress. Along the way, we discuss the qualitative and financial impact this project has had on the communities she works to support, her new experiences in the art world, and the advice she has for the next generation of aspiring change-makers.
Let’s go back to the very beginning: where did the Humanizing the Homeless project and the Nowhere to Call Home books begin?
I was really interested in photography when I was 15, so I saved up money from my paper route and bought a used DSLR camera from a local used shop in Collingwood — the town I grew up in. I was taking photographs of anything and everything, but then I got some mentorship from a National Geographic photographer, Joel Sartore, who told me to focus on portraiture.
My dad saw the photographs British photographer Lee Jeffries had done of people experiencing homelessness and I was very drawn to them. I was especially impressed with how they captured someone’s personality simply through their facial expressions, gestures, and in their eyes. I wanted to do the same with my work, and my dad suggested we go to Toronto and try photographing people experiencing homelessness ourselves. At first, I wasn’t sure, but he talked me into it. That first experience changed my perception of things, and I decided to take it on as a project when I was about 15. It came about unplanned.
My dad has been a crucial part of the project — it was his initial idea, and he accompanied me on my photo shoots with people experiencing homelessness, especially for the first several years. He’s also a gifted writer, so he’s helped me a lot — especially with writing the stories.
Since then, you’ve dedicated many years of your life to raising awareness and advocating for the homeless. When did things shift from “this is an interesting photography subject” to something more?
That first day opened my eyes. Up until that point, I had grown up in a small town that didn’t have any external homelessness. I had only heard negative things, like everybody has — that they “choose” to be there, and they’re all dangerous, or addicts. I had all those things in my mind.
I went out and photographed five people on that first day. While interviewing them, I came to see that these stereotypes often aren’t true. In fact, they were some of the most humble people I had ever met, and it was random things that had happened in their lives that led them into this situation.
That experience also made me realize how many homeless people there were because I was never really aware of the scale — especially not living in the city. When I noticed those two things (how stereotyped they were and how big the problem was), I decided that first day that I would take this problem on as a project.
My two goals of the project are to humanize people experiencing homelessness and to shine a spotlight on the plight of people experiencing homelessness. But even though that day changed me, it’s been a process. I’ve become even more empathetic and less judgmental [since then].
You mentioned interviewing the folks you photograph, and their stories are a prominent feature of your books. How have you approached those conversations as this project has evolved throughout the years?
When I first started taking photographs of people experiencing homelessness, I was doing it with building my portfolio in mind. I looked at these people from a photographer’s perspective. For the first couple of years, I wasn’t even recording the names of the individuals or their stories. I was just taking people’s portraits.
It wasn’t until a year or two later that a journalism student from my high school asked if she could come with me on my photo shoots. She would interview the individuals and record their stories for an assignment for school. When I had the story and photograph next to each other, I realized that knowing the individual’s story behind the photograph was essential. That’s where I got the idea of doing a book. The journalism student wasn’t interested in pursuing the project, so my dad helped me record the stories instead.
I recorded the person’s name and their story, where they were, and how they ended up experiencing homelessness. When technology wasn’t as advanced for the first couple of years, I was taking notes — but that’s much harder. You miss parts. Now that I have my smartphone with me, it has a voice recording app. I’ll put that on the ground before the person and record our conversation. That’s the best because I like to have them tell their own story. I don’t want to put too much of my perception of the situation. I don’t want to directly say, “That person was struggling with this,” or “They look like this.” I try to say what I saw and give quotes of what they said about their experience and have them tell their own experiences with as many direct quotes as possible.
Although my goal was to eliminate judgement, [before I presented the stories,] people would look at the photograph and judge the subject. They’d think, “Well, that person looks like an addict,” or “They look dangerous.” The stories make it harder to do that.
Take Dexter for example. He lives under the Gardiner Expressway and speaks 13 languages. He fought in a war, then a drunk driver killed his wife and son, and he had a mental breakdown. That story overrides the judgement because you hear about a random, tragic situation that could happen to almost anybody. The stories humanize the subject and spotlight the problems that led to them experiencing homelessness.
Your photography was recently part of an art exhibit at Southern Methodist University in Texas. What was that experience like?
The exhibit was called “HOME? Humanizing the Homeless: Portraits and Signs,” It came down just a few days ago. It was one of the most potent exhibits I’ve been a part of. It was a collaborative exhibition where I worked with two other artists working to end homelessness. One is Willie Baronet, a professor at SMU who collects the signs of people experiencing homelessness; he makes murals to raise awareness. I also collaborated with Jonathan Palant, who leads a choir of people who are experiencing homelessness. We had this event where the three of us were there and we had the choir perform and sing a song about home. We exhibited my work — 10 photographs — alongside the signs, which was very powerful.
I hope to do more of this — bringing my work to different places. In January, I’m doing another exhibit with Willie Baronet in Philadelphia at the Mütter Museum. We’re also planning some other exhibits, and I hope to keep exhibiting the project in as many ways as possible. I’m privileged to be able to collaborate with other people who are raising awareness for homelessness, too.
The Nowhere to Call Home books were published with FriesenPress in 2017 and 2018, and since then there have been two more volumes traditionally published with Austin Macauley. What motivates you to continue finding new ways of expressing that mission — like art — in addition to the books and speaking after all these years? What keeps you going?
It’s a little bit hard sometimes because I’m hearing such emotionally disturbing stories from so many people experiencing homelessness. I always feel like I should be doing more. I find it difficult to hear about these people in such difficult situations and be unable to do more to give them some secure housing.
I find what motivates me is two things: hearing the feedback from people experiencing homelessness that the project is helping by humanizing them and raising funds. So many people I connect with on the street have told me that everyone passes them by and doesn’t even look at them. Because I take the time to make eye contact and have a conversation about their life, they often appreciate that.
One of the most powerful pieces of feedback I received is from Lucy — who’s on the cover of my first book with FriesenPress. When I first came across her, she was homeless and on opioids, struggling. When I put her on the cover, I gave her a copy. She was jumping up and down yelling, “Woohoo! I’m the cover of the book!” She was so happy. A few months later, her boyfriend emailed me, “Thank you so much for putting Lucy on the cover. It made her feel human.” Since then, they have been able to get their lives back on track — they were able to kick their opioid addiction and get an apartment. He said it was because Lucy was on the book’s cover that saved their lives. He said she was on a downward spiral before [I] took the photo. Making her feel human changed all of that. Knowing that the project is having a positive result of ending homelessness, even in a small way, keeps me going.
Another thing that has been motivating is the feedback from the general public. People from around the world are messaging me on Instagram and emailing me that the project is making them realize that they can’t just go past someone who’s homeless without thinking that they have a story, or maybe smiling at them and talking to them. People often tell me that they decided to get out and help people experiencing homelessness because of the project. Hearing that it’s inspiring people to help has been the biggest motivator for making me want to continue, even though it is sometimes difficult.
One hundred percent of the profits from the Nowhere to Call Home book series have raised money for various organizations fighting for housing security and the support of unhoused persons. Can you speak a bit about the specific charities have you supported and why that means so much to you?
Yes, I donate 100% of the profits from the books back to different shelters and organizations that help people [who are] experiencing homelessness. The project is all about helping people experiencing homelessness, so I found that was the most appropriate thing to do. I decided to pick a different organization and homeless shelter to which I would donate the profits for each book. When I’m interviewing people experiencing homelessness, they all say, “This is the best place; they help us so much.” When I hear such good feedback from so many, I see [these organizations] are excellent places to help people.
It’s often those places that I donate the profits back to because I’ve directly seen that they are helping people experiencing homelessness, and that’s an organization that I would like to help in some way. So far, those organizations have been:
The Barbara Weider House in Collingwood;
The Welcome Drop-in Centre in Guelph;
The Inn From The Cold shelter in Newmarket.
Over the years between the four volumes, I’ve donated an estimated $30,000 through the books. It’s been nice to help them help people. I’m always telling people in my talks: these organizations have the know-how and the resources to best help the individuals who are experiencing homelessness. They’re the best places to support.
Let’s talk a bit about your growing career as a speaker. What’s the experience of becoming a speaker been like for someone used to being behind the camera?
Speaking came about in 2017, two years into the project. My first talking event was — it’s wild — to about 40,000 people at the WE Day conference at the Air Canada Center in Toronto. I had never done any speaking before. I was 17, and it was my first time speaking. It’s probably the biggest speaking event I’ll ever do. My knees were shaking, but at least you couldn’t see that in the video!
Even though I’m pretty introverted and shy, I want to get out there because of the goals I have for the work that I am doing. I’ve decided to do it even though it’s not my personality. When I’m sharing my talks, people are often crying, and then at the end of the talk, they tell me similar things that I hear from my books: that it changed their perception of homelessness, that it opened their eyes to the problem, and that they want to help. I do it as a part-time job now for many organizations.
One good thing that came out of COVID is that I can speak worldwide through Zoom. I’ve been doing talks to schools — even in Italy and France and different countries — and it has just been wonderful to share my work with an even broader audience.
What advice would you give to an aspiring author — or perhaps even an inspiring young artist — reading this interview
Everybody has some talent — something you are good at or enjoy doing. For me it’s photography. There’s always a way to use your talent for good, to make the world a better place, and to help people. Whether through writing or putting photography into a book (like I do), or if you’re good with people, events, or music, there’s always some way to use it to help people. I would encourage other people to do that, too — especially young people.
I’m speaking to you as part of our 15th anniversary celebration, and we’re looking forward to at least 15 more years. With that in mind — what’s next for Leah den Bok and Humanizing the Homeless in the next 5, 10, or even 15 years?
When you said 15 years, I was doing the math — I will be almost 40. I never really imagined what I’ll be doing at 40!
I’m continuing to do my project and putting more books out there. I am working on my sixth book right now. I want to make each volume unique. Volume Four was centered around COVID-19 and how the virus affected people experiencing homelessness. I just returned from India and was taking many photographs of people experiencing homelessness there, so this is the focus of Volume Six. My mother was rescued off the streets of India — she was homeless as a child, and her experience being saved by Mother Teresa had a huge impact on inspiring me to begin the project as well. It was a big, full-circle moment to go to India and photograph children the same age as she was when she was rescued. Photographing in India was a fantastic experience for me, and I’ll be dedicating my sixth book to Mother Teresa and India and the homelessness there.
With subsequent volumes, I’ll keep doing different things and going to other places worldwide. I’m still determining specifically what will come, but I want to continue my project, doing books, and photographing people. That’ll be for sure what I’ll still be doing.
