He found himself on the margins of society over a decade ago. When he is not with a group of friends in an abandoned gardening colony, he repeatedly seeks a way to stand on his own feet.
He has a good heart and a proud look. He treats others the same way they treat him. Surrounded by abandoned animals, he searches for work and dreams of a better future, without expecting compassion.
You would guess him to be well over fifty, with eyes that draw you in but that you cannot hold for too long. He has tried enough. Occasionally, he meets a friend, and they share the weight of their burdens. I call him a man of many moods and several eye colors. What he truly desires is to live in peace, undisturbed. He dreams of a better future and does not seek pity. He would never change his way of life—a lover of freedom and a critic of the system. I observed his story with absolute respect and humility. I documented his life from 2014 to 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Homelessness represents a complex social issue and undoubtedly belongs among the defining phenomena of the twenty-first century. It cannot be overlooked; today’s world is directly characterized by it. Furthermore, homelessness knows no boundaries of time and manifests in various ways throughout the entirety of human society’s existence. Most people tend to view homeless individuals as fully responsible for their situation. However, in my opinion, this belief is distorted, as there are many reasons why a person may find themselves on the cold streets without a home.
People living on the margins of society are not necessarily homeless. Often, they have somewhere to lay their heads, they have limited options, and they do not necessarily end up directly on the street. For them, home can become a tent, a spot in an abandoned colony, an uninhabited house, or a basement—anything.
About Marta Režová
She graduated in photography from the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic. Her work is primarily devoted to people, with a focus on portraiture, reportage, and documentary photography. She has worked in the advertising industry for many years, with her first commissions coming from production companies, mainly shooting behind the scenes of television commercials. Her documentary work earned her an honorable mention at the Slovak Press Photo awards for her series I, the Hermit.
She enjoys working on projects that address contemporary social issues, with a particular focus on local problems that she believes deserve greater attention. [Official Website]
