The red needle points southwest, standing out against the black background and gray letters on the compass. Handwritten words in red and black ink surround this photo.
“I think of my grandfather who gave me my first compass & now I have a piece of him with me when I carry one. It’s part of my history and my childhood. One of the reasons I carry it is tradition,” the owner has written.
The compass belongs to George McCarthy, a formerly homeless man. It is part of a photography and writing storytelling exhibition, “what i carry,” at the Multnomah County Central Library in downtown Portland.
Comprising about 50 photographs, “what i carry” will be in the Collins Gallery at the Central Library until March 15. Since 2010, photographer Jim Lommasson has collaborated on projects involving people displaced from their homes. He spent a year with Street Roots vendors and other homeless individuals, photographing their chosen objects and getting to know them. Participants wrote about the significance of the possessions and their personal stories through handwritten poetry, memories and descriptions.
“It is not the homeless person that needs to be humanized,” Lommasson said. “It is us. One thing I’ve learned from this project is that any of us, if one or two circumstances changed in our lives, we could be unhoused. There’s a whole list of factors why people are homeless.”
Photos of dogs, guitars, cards, jewelry and other objects are on display. Most folks still possess these items but some have been lost in sweeps or stolen. The photographs remain as a testament to their importance.
The participants
McCarthy and Robin “Shaggy” Douglas participated in the workshop with Lommasson. Both are Street Roots vendors and are currently housed, although they have experienced periods of homelessness.
“I liked the workshop, and it’s nice to see how he takes the photos and outlines against the white background,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy found the workshop made him think about why he has the compass Lommasson photographed and what it means to him. He may not use it for months at a time but it gives him a sense of security and a link to his past.
“If you’re at a point where you need a compass, you’re in an interesting situation,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy remembers writing from a young age, stapling books when his mother taught him to read at age three. He prefers handwriting to typing and likes inks and colors.
Douglas, a poet who currently lives in transitional housing, was at the meeting when Lommasson presented the idea of the photo workshop.
“I remember really liking the idea, and he took a picture of my longboard,” Douglas said. “When he showed the photo of the board, it looked different on its own. It catches you for a minute. The longboard is a big part of my life in the sense of how many places I go on it and spend time upgrading, repairing and adding color. It’s what carries me.”
Douglas is glad he took part because he wouldn’t have necessarily included himself. He believes there’s a lot to be said about what you can get out of something, even if you don’t understand it at the time.
Bronwyn Carver, a poet, enjoyed the workshop. She felt comfortable and respected with Lommasson as an instructor.
“I like multimedia,” Carver said. “You can tell a story visually and through narrative. It was a good collaboration. I like collaborative participation; we make each other better when we learn from each other. Instead of focusing on differences, we focus on sameness.”
Carver chose to share a piece about socks with a brightly colored photo and writing for the Collins Gallery show.
“No matter how hot it gets in summer, you can deal with it, but you can’t comprehend the amount of wetness and cold people experience outside,” Carver said. “I’m an older woman with physical health problems, and when my husband passed away, I had to batten down my own tent. ‘Socks’ is about having to be responsible for my own tent.”
Carver will have been housed for a year next month after eight years of homelessness.
“At first, when I was housed, I wanted to separate myself from homelessness,” Carver said. “It is still a part of who I am. Housing first does work.”
While unhoused, Carver experienced addiction and mental health challenges. She believes the housing first model provides the impetus and support people need.
“Homeless is something you never think you will be,” Carver said. “It’s impossible to live outside sober. You’re always in a state of fight and flight, especially as a woman preyed upon in ways people can’t imagine. Addiction helps you cope with your reality of no shower and no bathroom and nuances of being homeless. I knew before being housed I had to change.”
Carver has now been sober for a year.
The photographer
Lommasson started his career with commercial photography but always pursued personal projects that spoke to his anti-war beliefs and concern for civil rights. These projects led to his decision to create “what i carry.”
The Regional Arts & Culture Council, or RACC, awarded Lommasson a grant for his collaborative storytelling project with Syrian and Iraqi refugees: “What We Carried: Fragments from the Cradle of Civilization.” In 2019 the exhibit was displayed at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. In 2023, another project, “Stories of Survival: Genocide Remembrance and Prevention,” went to the United Nations headquarters’ gallery in New York.
“I had been doing collaborative storytelling projects about diaspora with refugees, genocide and Holocaust survivors since about 2010 by photographing carried objects and asking participants to write their story directly on the photographs about their carried personal mementos,” Lommasson said. “This process of personal storytelling with objects and photographs gives voice to those who are rarely heard.”
The photographer thought this process would apply to the people he saw on the streets, and he wanted to know more about them.
Lommasson got another RACC grant and set to work. He sent an email to three agencies and, the next morning, heard from Maggie Schroeder and Kodee Zarnke at Street Roots. They wanted to help and invited him to Street Roots’ Monday morning poetry workshop. He met the group of vendor poets and explained the project, inviting them to bring personal objects to share at the next meeting. Lommasson took photos and shared the prints the week after that. Throughout the project, he posted prints on the walls at Street Roots, spreading enthusiasm.
“The first day I sat in on class, I was a fly on the wall,” Lommasson said. “Maggie handed out a poem about swifts, the birds. She asked two people to read it aloud. They wrote responses to the poem for 15 minutes.”
One person said part of the poem reminded them of Macbeth, and the next pointed out iambic pentameter, and someone else referenced the Torah.
“I felt like I was in an upper division writing class,” Lommasson said. The photographer continues to attend the poetry workshops at Street Roots because he enjoys being around creative people. He observes and sometimes writes as well.
The Street Roots building was the headquarters for Lommasson’s project, and he worked primarily with vendors to take photos and have them add words to the prints. He also spent time in his studio in Northwest Portland, creating 13” x 19” prints on archival paper.
“My project allows storytellers to tell their stories in their own hands, and I’m just the conduit,” Lommasson said. “I love it when people accidentally stumble across one of my shows. When unsuspecting people come for whatever reasons, I am so glad because they’re the ones who need to pick up the messages. That’s what I love about the library. For one, half of the patrons are homeless. The other half are just regular library users who come to check out a book. Some are curious. The library is about tradition and institution, and not everybody searches on Google.”
Lommasson said initial interviews with participants were not extensive, and he never asked people to write stories about their lives but to focus on the significance of the object. He felt that asking people for details of how they became homeless was traumatizing and voyeuristic. However, several people wanted to tell their stories as a warning in the context of “never again.”
“Every project I do, I start with preconceived ideas and stereotypes,” Lommasson said. “Immediately, they fall away when I immerse myself, and that’s what happens here. What it meant to the participants is most important.”
Lommasson has received awards for his work addressing social issues. He earned the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University for his first book, “Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & the Will to Survive in American Boxing Gyms.”
In May, “what i carry” will be part of a show at PLACE, an award-winning design studio in Northwest Portland.
Opening reception
On Jan. 18, the Central Library hosted an opening reception for “what i carry” with about 50 people in attendance. Every seat was filled, with standing room only.
The poets connected with the listeners by reading what they’d written about the photos aloud.
“People asked questions, and the poets had brilliant answers,” Lommasson said. “It was a celebration, and a whole lot of preconceived notions evaporated in the audience.”
The following Monday, the writers discussed the meaning and metaphors in a poem by W. S. Merwin. They spoke excitedly about the event, complimented each other and took a moment to enjoy the success.
Ricky Wagner shared about a keepsake that represents friendship and peace.
“I thought the reading went really well,” Wagner said. “There was a good response from the audience. I talked to a few after, and they said they enjoyed it. I liked that we got up there showing our vulnerability. It was a humbling experience.”
Wagner plans to continue writing and said poetry is therapeutic for him. He appreciates people’s writing skills and verses from the Monday poetry workshops.
The impact of photography and storytelling
The main purpose of “what i carry” is to create empathy and awareness. Lommasson sees the storytelling project as an antidote to the general public’s animosity toward homeless people in Portland and every other city. He believes it’s worth telling stories because those stories can change lives.
“Being seen and recognized and treated like another human being means so much,” Lommasson said.
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This article appears in January 29, 2025.