Understanding Poverty
Ben Tecumseh DeSoto
Words by Ann Walton Sieber
Curated by Clint Willour
Works by Sarah Whatley Ayers & Forrest Prince
September 19 - November 1, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, September 19, 2008    6-8pm

Making our way to work in the everyday stress and hubbub of a Houston Monday morning, we drive up to one of downtown’s busy intersections and see a homeless man holding a plaintive sign. We don’t know his name, but we know him from other days at the same intersection, his disheveled appearance familiar as he ritualistically waits at the crossing every day, hoping someone will give him some money for food or who knows what. As we pull up to the light, our eyes meet. But we quickly break away from his gaze and fixate on the traffic light. Or perhaps we keep his gaze, wondering, what is his story? The light turns green; we cross the intersection, the man a reflection in our rearview mirror. 

After many years of documenting life on the streets of Houston, photographer Ben Tecumseh DeSoto seeks to tell the stories of the homeless and working poor, the “broke and the broken,” with his exhibit Understanding Poverty, which will kick off DiverseWorks 08-09 season with an opening reception on Friday, Sept. 19, 2008.

About Understanding Poverty Project
The Understanding Poverty is an ongoing collaboration of DeSoto with writer/editor Ann Walton Sieber in the role of Project Editor. Sieber’s contributions include field reporting, writing and conception of not only the exhibition text, but also the developing book and documentary film with DeSoto as first camera.  The Project has become a joint effort and collaborators include DiverseWorks, the Houston Endowment, Que Imaging, and others including the photography subjects, while showcasing the efforts of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission to End Chronic Homelessness, and the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, among others.  Everyone is involved to help the public understand the underlying causes of homelessness and poverty.  The “solutions” presented in the work may have implications for the nation’s housing, health, and economic issues facing the  society at large.