Lighting Portraits to Bring Exposure to Homelessness in America

Photographer Aaron Draper wants people to see homelessness in a different light � literally. For his project titled Underexposed, he hit the streets with his camera and off-camera strobe in order to capture portraits of the homeless and �bring them into the light and out of the shadows for others to view and appreciate.�

Draper, a professor of photography at Chico State University, says the goal of the series is to �make the homeless as visually appealing as possible in a society that is visually demanding.�

�I use lighting as a way to interest the viewer in the subjects shown,� Draper says. �I hope to enable people to gain a more humane view of the homeless.�

�If I�m able to affect the way that one person views the homeless, I will have considered my series a success. And that gives me hope,� Draper says.

This project was recently featured in the latest episode of Seeker Stories:

You can find this project and Draper�s other work over on his website.

Image credits: Photographs by Aaron Draper and used with permission