Well, I finally scraped together the resources (monetary, emotional and
aesthetic) to resume work on USER. This year I’m mostly concentrating
on photographing the men there.

Photographing Bo, with Bubbles grinning in the background (yes, that’s a Mamiya 6)

I keep bumping into old friends. Catching up. I’m receiving lots
of bad news (too many deaths, a few lengthy jail sentences) and
some good news, too (people getting straight, recovering from
operations, still alive).

Talking with James (not an addict)

And, no matter how often I go down there, I always seem to meet
someone new. New to me, that is. They’ve been on the corner for
a long time, but our paths have never crossed.

Last Tuesday I met Star. She looked familiar, I asked her if we’d met.
She said: “No”, and I believed her.

Hanging with Star (yes, that’s a Hasselblad)

We talked for a while and, then it comes out, she’s Dakota’s
daughter…..looks just like her, too. I photographed Dakota
last year.

Dakota, Ottawa, 2008. Star, Ottawa, 2009

(Here, I’d like to say a few words about how some of you reading
this might react to the fact that mother and daughter are both on
that corner, both addicts. My approach to life on that corner, to
life in general, is to accept it for what it is. I’m a photographer,
an observer; not a doctor or a social worker. We all do what we
can, except for those who do nothing. The fact that there are
families down there doesn’t surprise me, nor should it surprise
you. It’s a fact.)

Star, Ottawa, 2009

Bo, Ottawa, 2009

NEW YORK TIMES

Well, the other big news this week is that, on Wednesday,
the New York Times featured USER in their fotoblog LENS.
Pix and a profile.

LENS is a great fotoblog (and I don’t say this just because
they ran a thing on me). My buddy John McD calls it: “one
of the most prestigious, savvy, cutting-edge online venues
for photography in the Western World”. If you’re interested
in photography it should be in your bookmark list.

Two posts a day there. One feature and then, later on, Pictures
Of The Day. The feature subjects are wide-ranging and almost
always interesting. The design of LENS is easy and beautiful, too.

When I photograph the addicts on the corner, after we talk and
stuff, I always tell them two things. One is that the photos I’m
taking will identify them as a drug user. The other thing I tell
them is that a lot of people will see these photos, and if they’re
not comfortable with that they should tell me.

Of course, every person working on personal art projects hopes
that the work will be seen by a wide audience. So far USER has
been doing okay in that respect. But the NYTimes/LENS thing
has put the hits thru the roof. People are actually commenting
on the work, too…..for and against.

I also received a ton of personal e-mails, some quite touching.
There seemed to be a lot of Twitter action, too.

Here are 3 examples:

Eric Avery, co-founder of Jane’s Addiction, Twittered this:
Beautiful, devastating photos of crack casualties from the USER
series shot by Tony Fouhse. http://bit.ly/1Apfe

Jane F. e-mailed me this:
Yr portraits of crack users were so painful to look at i couldn’t
even cry.  My daughter is an addict.  She’s 36 now.

James Estrin, New York Times, Twittered this:
I wrote a piece on Lens about Tony Fouhse’s photographs of
crack addicts. commenters got pretty riled up .http://tinyurl.
com/mobdns

You will find a link to the the New York Times thing here.

Bo, Ottawa, 2009

LOCAL NEWS

It’s kind of funny (but not surprising, I suppose) the kind of
reach The New York Times has. The day it was published I get
a call from the local CTV station, news. They want to do a thing
on me. Funny, it’s not like I’ve been hiding out here or anything,
not like USER has no local profile. But if the NYT plays it, well,
it must be something, right?

Here’s a link to the CTV thing. Depending on which browser
you’re using the video will either just start right up, or you’ll
have to click on the white arrow. CTV news

And, below, is Jerry, who was also interviewed for the segment.

Jerry, Ottawa, 2009