Skid Row I

Originally from the UK, Lee Jeffries lives in Manchester and endlessly roams big Western cities looking for the inhabitants of those streets, hoping to reveal their nobility. Previously an accountant, during the 2008 London marathon he spotted a young woman huddled in her sleeping bag close to Leicester Square. His vision of the homeless was shaken and Lee Jeffries couldn’t help but take a photograph. This tremendous encounter marked the beginning of an artistic and social undertaking: the homeless become his principal (and only) subjects. The humanist photographer explains that each image comes as a result of a long discussion. a privileged moment that establishes a connection which can be felt specifically in the subject’s gaze. “Emotion is in the eyes,” says Lee Jeffries, whose majestic black and white portraits help raise funds for the homeless and bear witness to the difficult life conditions of these isolated people, forgotten and broken by a life of suffering.