in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
January 03, 2025
BY JOHN BUTLER — Leah den Bok credits a cherished group of family and colleagues for providing the social safety net she needs so she can pursue her career as a fashion and portrait photographer, and as a camera-driven advocate for people who often have no functioning safety net at all — people who are homeless.
Leah will describe her journey to “caring through a camera” in her presentation entitled But Still, We Can Do Something, the latest in a popular speaker series hosted by the Grey Highlands Probus Club, the Kimberley Community Association and the Grey Highlands Public Library. This free event, to which the public is invited, will be held on Wednesday January 8 at 2:00 pm at the Kimberley Community Hall, 235309 Grey Rd 13 in the village of Kimberley (doors open at 1:30 pm).
Leah, who was born in Stayner and grew up in Collingwood where she still lives, came to her passion for photography at the age of seven. She was fascinated by how a photograph could capture a moment in time with the same clarity and quality as the eye sees it. That curiosity drove her to save up the money she earned from her paper route until, aged twelve, she bought her first DSLR camera at a pawn shop.
At first, Leah photographed anything and everything with her new camera but her confidence in her work waned just as her technical competence increased. She considered giving up photography altogether, but her father, a Collingwood artist, saw her potential and set up a consultation for her with National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore. During the consultation, Sartore reviewed her work and told her, “You are well on your way to becoming not just a good photographer, but a great photographer.”' That encouragement reignited her passion. Sartore and Leah stayed in touch, and in one of their meetings, he pointed out that her strength lay in portraiture — a form of photography she deeply enjoyed. Leah began focusing on portraits, starting with senior citizens in nursing homes. But this was challenging — nursing home staff were hesitant, and she needed written permission from families, which made it impractical. Although she gave up this venue for her portraiture, it was the seed bed for her landmark photographic project — Humanizing the Homeless — a project that began when she was fifteen.
Leah became fascinated with fashion photography while studying photography at Sheridan College. “I fell in love with how you can create entirely new worlds and atmospheres through the models, makeup, styling, and set design,” she says. Leah continues to pursue fashion photography and commissioned portraiture as a way to put bread on the table and to fund her Humanizing the Homeless project.
Once more, her father came to her side as she launched the Humanizing the Homeless project.
He made her aware of the work of Lee Jeffries, a British photographer known for capturing powerful portraits of people experiencing homelessness in London, England. Leah was drawn to how Jeffries captured people’s personalities through their facial expressions, gestures, wrinkles, and eyes. It inspired her to try something similar with her own work. Her father suggested they go to Toronto to engage and photograph people experiencing homelessness. At first she was hesitant — she had only heard negative stereotypes about homelessness — “But that very first interaction completely changed my perception,” says Leah. “I realized how deeply misunderstood and stereotyped these individuals are, and how significant the issue of homelessness is.” The project has two main goals: to shine a spotlight on the issue of homelessness and to humanize the people who experience it. It’s a project Leah has been passionately working on ever since.
Leah was also inspired to begin Humanizing the Homeless by her mother Sarah's story. When she was three years old, Sarah was found wandering the streets of Kolkata, India, by a police officer who took pity on her. She had a laceration on her head, was probably bleeding, and was brought to Mother Teresa's orphanage, Nirmala Shishu Bhavan. There, she was raised by Mother Teresa and her nuns until the age of five, when Sarah was adopted and brought to Stayner, Ontario. Says Leah, “If it weren’t for Mother Teresa dedicating her life to helping people experiencing homelessness, my mother wouldn’t have survived — and I wouldn’t exist. I owe my life and hers to the work Mother Teresa did to help the homeless. Because of that connection, homelessness has always been a significant theme in my life.”
Mother Teresa’s words, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them,” became the guiding principle of Leah’s work.
Leah has generalized her interest in people who are homeless beyond her mother’s experience. She says, "I think people experiencing homelessness have fallen through the cracks of our society’s resources and safety nets. They’re often overlooked because their presence challenges our sense of comfort and security — it’s easier to ignore the problem than confront the systemic issues that contribute to it. And stereotypes and stigma surrounding homelessness make it easy for people to distance themselves from the issue, rather than seeing the humanity in those affected."
Leah’s photographs of people who are homeless are in black and white. "I chose to work in black and white because color can often be distracting,” she explains. “My goal is to tell a story with each photograph and to force viewers to focus on the individual in front of them. I want them to stare into their eyes, study their facial expressions, gestures, and wrinkles. To achieve this, I strip away distractions, starting with color, so nothing pulls the viewer’s attention away from the subject. I also simplify the backdrop to either plain white or black, further directing focus onto the person in the image. This approach ensures that the story and humanity of the individual remain at the forefront."
Leah’s Humanizing the Homeless photographs are exhibited in galleries and at public events, and much of it is available through her four-book series, Nowhere to Call Home. Each book features forty to fifty photographs and stories of people experiencing homelessness in cities around the world, from North America to Australia. She donates 100% of the profits from each book to organizations and shelters supporting people experiencing homelessness. “This allows me to give back to the community while continuing to fund my project”, she says. The books sell for $40.00 (CAD) each plus mailing cost, and can be purchased by contacting Leah at leahdenbok@gmail.comz.
Why is photography such a powerful means of expression? Leah says photography can highlight things that often go unnoticed and can shine a spotlight on problems in society that are ignored. By photographing people on the streets — individuals who are often overlooked — she aims to force viewers to look into their eyes, see their humanity, and hear their stories. “Photography has the ability to connect people emotionally in ways words sometimes can’t” she says, “and that’s what makes it so impactful."
One of her most moving and unforgettable experiences was meeting a woman in Toronto named Lynn. When Leah first saw her, it was apparent that Lynn had a horrible wound on her face — it was cut and bleeding. Leah asked her what had happened, and she told Leah a stranger had kicked her in the face before running off. Lynn was sleeping on a heating grate in front of Old City Hall, barely surviving through the harsh winter. Says Leah, “As we spoke, Lynn said something that has stayed with me ever since. She told me, 'I know a lot of people can’t give us money, and I don’t expect them to. I just ask that if you walk by me and I’m crying, or if I say hi, don’t just walk by as if I don’t exist. That’s what hurts the most. It’s hard enough being homeless, but why do I have to be treated this way?'” Lynn then shared more of her story with Leah. Lynn said her ex-boyfriend had set her on fire, leaving her with third-degree burns. She spent three and a half months in Sunnybrook Hospital before Christmas, undergoing skin grafts and learning how to walk again. He had also knocked out her teeth. As Leah describes it, “Before I left, Lynn said something that touched my heart: 'Leah, you’re kind of like the friend or sister I never had. Thank you.' Her words weighed on me deeply. I wished I had done more to help her, like offering first aid for her wounds. I even went back later that day to try to find her, but she was gone. Her story has stayed with me ever since, and it’s a constant reminder of why I do this work."
Leah encourages readers and listeners to visit her on Instagram at humanizing_the_homeless, to visit her website, and if you’d like to receive her newsletter, contact her via email at leahdenbok@gmail.com.
Leah’s mother and father remain key participants in her journey. Her mother often joins her in making presentations. Her father has played an important role helping her conduct her interviews with people who are homeless, and he helps her to write the true stories she includes in her Nowhere to Call Home book series. As well, she remains in contact with photographic artists who have shaped her craft. They all constitute the support network for a young woman, rich in photographic experience and rich in support from family members, friends and mentors, who has chosen to devote much of her life to telling the stories of people who don’t have these precious life-sustaining connections.
You are welcome to hear more of the how and why of Leah den Bok’s journey when she speaks at Kimberley Community Hall on January 8.
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