Vision Beyond The Lens by -J.J. McQueen-

In ten years I've never questioned my purpose beyond the gridiron. However, on this day I wondered why I was called to see the things that I see. Not that I mind having a unique gift and job, but sometimes the intensity of some images can be overwhelming. Nevertheless, like a college classmate told me, "J.J. somebody has to do it and it might as well be you". Another former classmate said, "I want to see the world the way that I see it". Those were two of the highest compliments to date in my young career. Over the past three years I've dedicated a few weeks of photography to the homeless. The formal name for the series is, "100 Degrees and Homeless". I felt like the subtitle to this shoot should be, "The point of it all". It came to mind when I took the first shot. In the first image below I titled it, Mr. Steel. I have no idea if the gentleman below ever knew if I was there. What I do know is that he's a tough man. It was

The "Money Shot". It's not the type of shot where you look to get paid. It's the one that tells the largest story with the least amount of words. Today as I drove through Pen Lucy park, I saw this homeless lady at the stop light. I've driven through here daily for years and today was the first time I'd ever seen this lady. She was as worn as the soles of her shoes. She appeared to have the conscious mind of a 6 year old child. I only had about 20 seconds to capture the moment. It tends to be that way driving through the district where most of the show " The Wire " was filmed. Needless to say I was able to salvage what I referred to above as, " The Money Shot". After countless hours of studying the late great visual artist, Gordon Parks life stills, I've come to the conclusion that life stills are and should be timeless. They hold the frailties of life tight enough to crush them and soft enough to doctor them back to maximum h