Stuart
June 3, 2007 5:43 pm All, LondonThis is Stuart.
I didn’t know his name when he was crossing the road near Trafalgar Square on Friday evening.
My initial reaction was ‘A loony – a homeless low-life drunkard’.
I walked up the road behind him.
He finally went to a corner where there was a bench, sat down, and opened a bottle of alcohol, validating my opinion of him as a typically drunk and homeless beggar.
I felt silly walking behind him taking pictures, and snapping from afar, so I approached him and offered him a Kit Kat bar. He looked up and said ‘why, thank you!’, in an eloquent and well-spoken manner.
He was alert and attentive, and he asked me for my name, where I was from and where my family originated from. We got into a conversation and on to the topic of why he was in this situation – dressed in a blanket and living on the streets.
He said he could get a council flat if he wanted but he chose to live in this manner – he preferred the freedom he had on the streets. He admitted to having a drinking problem at the moment, and explained how he’s going through a rough patch, in the same way we all do. He also said he was working on this problem. He was very knowledgable and I felt I was having a conversation with an intelligent and wise individual. We spoke of homeless people in other countries including India, the current situation in Uganda, and the UK.
I asked if I could take a picture and he was fine with it, although he had appeared apprehensive to begin with.
He asked me to publicise him and let the world see how he lives and what he’s about. I’m not sure I fully understand his cause and I was in a bit of a rush to meet some friends, but I hope I bump into him again. I’d like to ask him a few more questions, such as where he gets money from to buy all the grocery shopping that he had, and what he did before he lived on the streets. He seems to have had a good education which makes the fact he’s homeless all the more bizarre.
It’s funny how we have these preconceptions of homeless people, although they’re not without reason. I wouldn’t dream of approaching many of the homeless people here London, because most of them are dangerous junkies who I’d assume would smash my camera.
Stuart is a complete exception, despite the fact his appearance is more extreme than any of the other homeless people I’ve seen on the streets of this city.
Simon :
Date: June 3, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
wow this is one interesting piece of photojournalism! i never had the guts to walk up to homeless people and talk to them like you did – i must admit i’m a bit scared and i’m aware of the fact that this should not be. but hell!
i think the reason some people become homeless is because they are simply OVERqualified for what they want to do. i never believed this until a guy i know became unemployed and couldn’t find a new job, because he was really highly qualified.
kind of terrifying.
haha good bye :) and good luck talking to him for a second time.. i guess he stays around the same place always, as most homeless people do.
take care
artis :
Date: June 3, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
enjoyed this entry.
and yes, that is very true that not rarely homeless people have actually chosen it as their way of life and feel totally comfortable about that. though, sad sorries are the ones when it’s the opposite.
Chris :
Date: June 3, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
This is a very interesting story with some great photos. It’s a shame you didn’t have time to ask him more questions about his life, he sounds like such a fascinating man.
Sarah :
Date: June 3, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
very impressing. I like this entry very much. I also hope that you’ll met him again.
will smith :
Date: June 3, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
good work.
MyPrivateParty :
Date: June 3, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
Tanya, excellent story….. This is what photography is about to me. It’s more than “just a picture” Its the experiences and people BEHIND the photo. I really dig your respectful approach.
Wid :
Date: June 4, 2007 @ 2:09 am
Great story, sure hope you can see him again to continue the talk. :) Loving the second to last photo!
Andreas :
Date: June 4, 2007 @ 9:03 am
Pretty interesting story! It just reminds us that sometimes there is more to people than what a first look may reveal. And that prejudgement should generally be avoided (as you mention there are cases though that this is to be taken with a bit of salt…).
I remember there was this man in my home town, that everybody used to make fun or simply avoid. He would wonder the streets with a flash light and look for garbages or little things to pick up. I never bother about him untill one day I took a photo of him. I learnt after that his story. He used to be a pretty normal man but one day he bought a lottary ticket. That ticket happened to win a great deal of money. He only then realized that he had lost it. He went crazy from that moment and that is why he wonders the streets looking with that light for little things that have fallen down…. Sad story…
Jessel :
Date: June 4, 2007 @ 10:12 am
sometimes the story behind their situations makes us learn more — makes us open our eyes and see that all is not written in stone — trust you meet him again and carry on the conversation — later days
Sebastian :
Date: June 4, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
too bad the two shots from the front are not focused. he actually looks so much more like an indian beggar than some you’d expect to see in the west ;).
anyway, being homeless definitely has more to do with psychological problems than being educated or not. you’ll always find a job, but you won’t always manage your life.
Mini :
Date: June 6, 2007 @ 10:07 am
GREAT STUFF,Extremly interesting and intelligently written… Keep up the good work..
IntangibleArts :
Date: June 6, 2007 @ 7:20 pm
Fascinating post. Here in Washington DC, we certainly have a thriving homeless population, and I’m sure there are millions of stories there. There used to be a permanent tent-city of homeless persons in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. Some were there as an act of political defiance, but others were simply there for the company: often the shelters are more dangerous than the streets, and thus not an option. The few I met ran the gamut from junkies to extremely educated, brilliant people who simply fell on hard times.
…the saluting portrait of Stuart is excellent, also…
Mark :
Date: June 12, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
Nice shots.
sophie :
Date: June 12, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
amazing, just totally amazing.
I’ve spoken to a number of well educated homeless people, but no-one who chooses to live on the street as a lifestyle choice.
madness comes in all shapes and forms I guess. And isn’t always truly obvious.
I would call him mad, just because he is purposefully putting himself at risk and abuse. Which to me shows some form of madness, whether or not its totally recogniseable.
beautiful words to go with it.
I don’t think any of us will understand his cause, but we can maybe understand why people would choose to do this. The fact that wealth is hard to come by, the fact that people still live in extreme poverty.
Made me think.
thankyou for sharing such a wonderful, if slightly bizaare experience.
sophie
Anne :
Date: June 12, 2007 @ 8:42 pm
You’re so right.
I remember talking to some Big Issue vendors some time ago. Your blog entry has just made me remember my experience.
http://inthefray.co.uk/2006/01/30/a-big-issue/
BOB :
Date: June 15, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
I have seen duvet dave, stuarts nikname, in tesco in tunbridge wells where i live. some say he got pushed into a river and drowned and some say he got sent to prison. i dont believe these but i dont know. he is cool.
Kerry :
Date: June 22, 2007 @ 8:13 pm
I always seen the duvet man around, I live in Tonbridge & all the locals know of him, I say fair play to him, he seems to be making the best out of a bad situation!
stefan :
Date: June 22, 2007 @ 8:43 pm
hi we also have a homeless person in our town who infact looks just like that homeless person we call him duvet dave,im in tonbridge in kent it looks so much like the same person ,but hey good pics and well done for taking intrest of the fella probally loved having a chat with yer well done stefan
Eleni :
Date: June 26, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Remind me to give you that book Stuart – A Life Backwards. It was brilliant, and challenged my preconceptions. Think you’ll enjoy it too! :)
Colin :
Date: July 12, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
I believe this is Stuart Olerenshaw, who until recently lived in Sevenoaks and was well known to the District Council when he had his flat there.
ASBO man :
Date: July 12, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Ah, you’ve found our friend ‘Duvet Dave’ who was served with a two year ASBO last Christmas.
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/_Duvet-Dave_-tramp-blames-God-for-wrecking-spree-in-Tunbridge-Wells-newsinkent2276.aspx
If you see him again can you please ask him to return to Kent or Sussex and make himself known to the Local Authority. We have a amendment to his ASBO that states he must wear trousers or underpants :-)
Gavin :
Date: July 13, 2007 @ 11:34 am
I knew Stuart well. His mum and dad bought a flat for him to live in – in my block back in 1997. They fully furnished it for him, too. He spent the next twelve-months selling everything in the flat to get money for drink, and when it was completely empty, he arranged for some guys to come round and dismantle the kitchen for money. In the end, it was completely bare, except for paintings all over the walls that one of his artist friends did!!!
dave :
Date: November 8, 2007 @ 9:54 pm
Interesting comments guys…..
I work with homeless people in central london and have encountered this guy on numerous occasions.. he is indeed articulate and educated…. as are many of londons homeless. the majority of homeless in london are infact homeless as a lifestyle choice, contrary so other comments above. The majority are not crazed junkies either. The publics opinion’s and perceptions help to exacerbate the marginalisation and exclusion from society that these guys encounter daily which is so wrong!!!
He isn’t mad either by the way.
Procco :
Date: December 7, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
If I were Duvet Dave, I would call you all a sad bunch of Petit Bourgeois voyeurs, sitting there in your centrally heated condos and townhouses, sipping Beaujolais and letting the homeless live your lives for you because you are too gutless to go out there and live it for yourselves. If you had trekked from the North to the South of India, sleeping rough and drinking untreated water, then I would sit up and listen to you too. As it is, I would rather listen to Duvet Dave.
tanya.nagar :
Date: December 8, 2007 @ 11:05 am
Procco – I’m not sure who you are referring to here, or even what point you’re trying to make! You would rather listen to Duvet Dave? That’s exactly what I did : )
ASBO man :
Date: December 21, 2007 @ 10:20 am
Procco – Would you listen to him while he was pissing through your letterbox?
Madz :
Date: May 30, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Dave,
you said you worked with Stuart, i know that post was a while ago but have you seen him of late?
Stuart spent a lot of time in tonbridge/tunbridge wells area and there have been reports that he is actually dead, story goes he died of pnuemonia after some kids in tonbridge pushed him in the medway it was never reported in the papers but then again he wouldn’t be the first homeless man to be murdered around there without it being reported in the paper.
anyway my mother was very fond of him and she is really upset about the rumours, it would mean a lot if you could let me know if you know anything, thanks x
ASBO man,
he did wear shorts under his duvet- usually dark green and very grubby ones and he wasnt so disgusting as to piss through anyones letterbox.
Stuart does have an asbo but only because the congregation of that church were appalling to him, they looked down on him in his time of need because he wasnt socially aceptable, strangely enough the churches in Tonbridge and tunbridge wells do that a lot, theres a lot of people thought of acting exactly as he did indeed there are a few who have done worse…
in 1985/1986 a church hall in tonbridge was burned down because the congregation had mistreated a homeless man who had been sleeping in the car park because they moved him on because “he was dirty and didnt make the church look good.”
in the late 90s a lady repeatedly threatened the congregation of corpus christi in tonbridge because when her mother died they judged her for not being clean and respectable (she was suffering from manic depression)
In 2004 in a church in Southborough there was a young girl whose little brother had just died and she started drinking and smoking a little bit of canabis and started dressing in what could only be described as a gothic style she went to the priest to ask for help and was told that “we don’t welcome your sort here” 6 months before hand she’d been running fund raising events for that same church
in 2006 a punk was asked to leave a church in tunbridge wells because they werent dressed suitably (they were wearing a knee length skirt, ripped fishnets, a red sleveless shirt and ripped fishnet arm warmers and a denim waist coat full of safety pins and badges) the women in the short revealing summer dress was ok though.
in 2008 a man went to ask for advice from a minister in a church in Tonbridge and was turned away because he was young and he had long hair and a leather biker jacket.
churches round that area are incredibly judgemental and treat people very badly (before anyone twists this its not an attack on christianity, im catholic, my problem is with the individuals within those churches mentioned who made people feel second class.) I cant blame stuart for losing his temper
I can’t share his full story because its not my place but he is an amazing man who deserves our respect, he might not be as clean or respectable as you feel fits in round kent but he is a good man and he has been through a lot and still has time to be there for others, he helped me a lot simply by listening and giving me honest advice.
star :
Date: June 29, 2008 @ 11:19 am
Hello, I work with Stuart and just wanted youto know he is alive and well. He even wears clothes now and is as polite and intereting as ever.
Mainframeguy :
Date: January 19, 2009 @ 7:16 am
I know this comment is unlikely to work – but I turned up this blog whilst trying to find the blog that is kept by a homeless person I met on a Christmas project last year.
He told me he kept a blog – but not the address or name! I was so impressed I gave him my blog addie and hoped for a comment, to find his blog. The comment has not arrived – so began my hunt, but google gives more static than help…
I do not comment in much hope of any help – but wanted to offer it as further evidence of how one oughtnot to misjudge a person simply on the evidence of their being homeless!
Sarah :
Date: January 25, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
His name isn’t Stuart it’s Duvet Dave, he lives in Hastings, East Sussex as a rule. No one has seen him here for just over a year.
Will :
Date: February 9, 2009 @ 12:13 am
Sarah,
If you had researched him further, you would realise that his name is Stuart Olerenshaw, and ‘Duvet Dave’ is just his nickname. I have personally seen him roaming about in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. He doesn’t just live in Hastings. So don’t make such rash comments. ;)
JoshPurwar :
Date: February 21, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2256280296&ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37622456429
tyler :
Date: August 25, 2009 @ 11:25 am
He usualy lives in hastings ive spoke 2 him hes a good person . and apparently hes got a honme now :)