I started to look for Davit a couple of weeks ago. The impetus being a ZDF documentary team from Germany wanting to connect with unhoused folks to document their perspective on the City of Toronto at night. The last time I spent time with Davit was last year while working on a piece about encampments for The Local with writer Brennan Doherty. As I return to photographing and speaking with people struggling with homelessness and addiction I am immediately reminded of the scale of the issue. I am confronted with the humanity of it and the collective’s need to at the very least listen, recognize and try to find solutions.

In my search I first came across Matthew near Bathurst Street who knows Davit and remembered me from Clarence Square Park. Matthew was very friendly and shared a bit about his experience living outside. He said he wants people to understand that homeless people aren’t all bad people. He told me about how he was battling a rat in and around his tent the night prior. He said he was binning (searching through refuse bins for food and items of value) with Davit the last time he saw him.

Later I met Alusine under the Gardiner Expressway picking through rocks. He told me he is originally from Sierra Leone and wants to return there. He said he sometimes smokes crystal meth to focus. He told me he was looking for diamonds or anything of value. He said maybe someone will see some value in what he finds.

Finally I met Tyler behind a Gardiner Expressway ramp between Parliament and Lower Sherbourne Street. I woke him up not knowing if he was overdosing. He knows Davit too.

Matthew

Shadows cast by the Gardiner Expressway.

Alusine

A discarded piece of cardboard with a message of need near the Gardiner Expressway.

Tyler

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Searching for Davit