LEFT: “Iftin” “ I try to be really quiet and stay in my own corner because I don’t want to get in trouble and because you have to think about your own safety at the end of the day. You don’t want to get involved with, like, anything that can get you hurt.” RIGHT: “Rainy” “ I met Rainy when I was volunteering at Operation Come Home. She is a compassionate young woman with a gift for writing. This photo was taken around the time she found out she was pregnant. Since this picture was taken Rainy has turned her life around. She left a toxic relationship, got off the streets, has an apartment and a job, and has a beautiful baby who she says saved her life. Her story is one of inspiration that there is a light on the other side of the darkness.”
Kat Fulwider YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY A cardboard sign is a form of communication people experiencing homelessness use with the general public. Often it is the only dialogue between these two demographics. Using art as a vehicle to break down walls of stigma, photographer Kat Fulwider challenges us to look at the human beyond the sign. “WHAT IS YOUR STORY? WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE?” Kat asked these questions to but a few of the 800 youth in Ottawa who don’t have a place to call home. Their answers were communicated in the form of visual artwork, words, and poetry: their emotional accounts of loss, survival, and resilience sketched on cardboard. On this simple material, Kat combined their statements with portraits she created through the cyanotype process.
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