What seemed easy ended up being a difficult challenge. Ann-Christine asked us to post just ONE picture that is meaningful, not a favorite, to us. My first choice was an image I was proud of. But, that’s not what was asked of us.

Recently my lens has found several homeless in Sacramento. I’ve shared at least one with you recently. The homeless crises is meaningful and has been for years. Just yesterday I went to Discovery Park, with friends Ray and Richard, to photograph the flooding there. With all the rain we’ve been getting, I wasn’t disappointed. I found a flooded parking lot and a building sitting partially submerged in water.

However, on our way back to the car. I found a homeless man asleep on the sidewalk of a busy intersection. His pillow was a rock. Whatever joy I felt at finding the flooding I was looking for was instantly diminished.

We can call this photojournalism, but it is sad that he can’t rest his head on a true pillow and sleep in privacy. This isn’t just a problem in Sacramento, but I’m sure worldwide. There is no easy remedy. I just hope not to find more pictures of this kind to take.

Thanks Ann-Christine for this thought provoking challenge. I was amazed at how quickly my focus shifted. This is definitely not my favorite photo, but it is meaningful. When you post your reply, please link to Ann-Christine’s original post and use the Lens-Artist tag.

I truly enjoyed seeing all your images in black and white and/or color last week. It was an interesting exercise and did show how subjective photography is. Next week Sofia will be challenging us, so be sure to look for her post.

Until then, stay safe and live in gratitude!

45 thoughts on “Lens Artists Challenge #336: Only One Picture”

  1. A compelling image indeed, Anne. Homeless in Sacramento have inhabited the riverfront areas for over 30 years. When I worked in Old Sacramento, parks staff told me many homeless travel by train from back east…Sacramento is much warmer by comparison.

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  2. Anne, what a sad testament to our present world. While billionaires spend millions of dollars in frivolous things, a human being cannot have a proper place to rest. This is a remarkable image.

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  7. A very important picture and thoughts to go with it, Anne. Thank you for this thought provoking image of one of our problems in the world today. I understand the floodings became a minor thought after witnessing this. What are we doing – or not doing to this world? This kind of photo journalism is good – we have to see what is happening even if we often look away. What if some of all those billionaires would donate of their wealth instead of spending it on travels to Mars and other unnecessary things…they would have too much money left anyway.

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  8. Such a sad and poignant image Anne, it tells so many stories. Sometimes an image with an important message choses itself 💜 xxx

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  12. This is a difficult photo to see, and must have been a challenge to take. I admire your courage to present the reality of the 1% of the US population having 99% of the wealth. Machiavelli’s statement, “politics have no relation to morals” is showing itself across our nation and around the world. Those of us with a moral compass will continue to do our parts to turn this around – even though it feels like there’s no hope at times.

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  15. Oops…the first comment didn’t load, so here we go again. What a powerful image and a great choice for the challenge. Sadly, it’s a world-wide issue which isn’t being addressed adequately. Such a loss to society, families, individuals. You picked a great subject and topic.

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  16. Brings me back to the days of 24 exposures. Remember being choosy about even tripping the shutter? Some moments were recorded as memories while some snaps were discarded and forgotten. There was something poetic in the effort to capture a memorable moment on film.

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