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’Pinky,’ one of Gary F. Clark’s homeless subjects, recently found an apartment.

PHOTO BY GARY F. CLARK

GARY F. CLARK CALLS himself a “street photographer.”
He captures portraits of homeless people in New York City and, increasingly, Wilkes-Barre.
Each portrait, posted on a Web page, is accompanied by at least a sentence or two about his subject. Sometimes, Clark feels compelled to write more.
Take, for instance, the story of “Jimmy,” which was posted on Aug. 5.
“Jimmy” related a horrific tale about being burned during December 1999 in Wilkes-Barre. Two attackers doused him in lighter fluid and intentionally set him on fire, he said.
The story might be fabricated. On the street, truths and falsehoods sometimes get blurred by booze and drugs. But the man’s discolored flesh confirms that something went terribly, terrible wrong.
Most of the homeless men and women who Clark encounters seem to be especially candid.
He considers some of the people he photographs to be his friends. He updates their stories when possible, letting visitors to the Web page know, for instance, if someone he met on the street has found a place to live. “Pinky,” for example, who has had run-ins with the law, recently moved to an apartment on Parkview Circle, Clark reports.
Called “Essential Humanity,” Clark’s photographic project aims to compel people to stop looking past homeless people and to start seeing them.
Recognition might lead to something else. Compassion, maybe?
Action?
Clark, a longtime Bloomsburg University art professor, has been featured on National Public Radio because of his unique brand of advocacy. The Web address of his photo blog includes the word “mashuga,” which is Yiddish for “crazy.”
Several faces on Clark’s Web page will be familiar to area residents who have been observant while walking across Public Square or jogging in area parks.
Does a con artist or unrepentant crook appear within the bunch? Maybe.
But there most certainly are people who require more physical and mental care, too. People who have lost touch with sisters and brothers, or sons and daughters. People who have hit lows.
People who need help.
That’s why Clark’s photographs deserve a local audience. Take a look.
Go to www.fotolog.com/mashuga/