Thanks, Homie

#26 Of 50

Just received my copy of Homies by Adam Amengual in the mail. There has been a good bit of buzz about this project on the Internet already, but I thought I'd chirp in a cent or two, particularly because Adam is one of my oldest friends and this here blog was started as a light-hearted tribute to Adam's Blog, the Wandering Wayfarer.
Homies is a collection of portrait photography shot by Adam at Homeboy Industries, an LA-based non-profit that works with former gang members and prisoners in giving them hope for the future and doing something positive with their lives once they leave the past behind. This is certainly an extreme case scenario, as most of us reading and writing blogs aren't directly involved with the pitfalls of gang culture, but I think that the model of Homeboy Industries is applicable to anyone's life: You fucked up in the past, do something positive and move on.
On a photography level, the images are beautifully shot and lighted (I don't know too much about photography but Adam's been doing his thing for a long time and they look very good to me). Some of the more interesting things I found about this book published by Straylight Press were the quotes that Adam was able to extract via interviews with his subjects as well as his insights from an interview with him which concludes the publication, particularly the idea that gang culture has been glorified by the popularity of gangsta rap, popular movies, video games, etc (even toys!). It's real easy to look at these portraits from afar and feel removed and fascinated, like watching National Geographic or visiting a zoo, but Adam's pictures and subsequent interviews help to remind us that we are all human beings born into various scenarios and that our differences are indeed arbitrary.
I don't know how many of these are left but I'm thankful to have a copy, support my friend, and hopefully be able to gain more insight about human beings in America next time I come across a "scary" type of person on the bus or street or whatever. There's a reason why utterances become cliche, mostly because they are at their core, universal truths. And with that, I would like to say "One Love". Thanks, Homie.