Brand ········· Getty Images & fiftyfifty
Agency ······ Havas Germany

Repicturing
Homeless

Homeless people
turned into stock
photo models

People always see the homeless as poor, desperate, and beyond help. Most existing homeless campaigns simply keep re-affirming such stereotypical images, and ask people to donate out of sympathy, which only further marginalized this group.

Instead of following down the spiral of pity, Getty Images partnered up with fiftyfifty (a street magazine sold by homeless people), to help shift the negative public perceptions of the homeless, and collect donations in a meaningful way.

“Hard To Believe!”

The Photos

Stock photos are abundant with typical scenarios of common people. We took advantage of this feature to help people “repicture” the homeless as the same human beings as anyone of us, while turning an established online business into a constant fundraising tool over the long term.

In the first round, 129 photos were uploaded to both gettyimages.com and istockphoto.com for people worldwide to purchase.

“Anyone who thinks
he has no prejudice
should see these photos”

Online Films

To further promote the project, we created a series of online films, each focused on the story of one of our homeless models.

“An Alliance Against
Visual Stereotypes.”

Photo Exhibitions

The exhibition has been on a tour around Germany. In each town it visited, it became a popular educational venue for local schools, and brought along more exposures for the project. People can interact with each photo on display and be led to purchase it online.

Düsseldorf, Johannes Church, hosted by Diakonie,
Apr. - May 2018;

Ahlen, St.Marien Church, hosted by Caritas, Sept. 2018;

Nuremberg, Conference hosted by DGS, Sept. 2018;

Cologne, Annual Conference of DGPPN, Nov. 2018;

Baden, Film Festival in Baden-Baden, May - Jun. 2019;

Duisburg, Church Petershof, Oct. - Nov. 2019;

Hattersheim, House of St. Martin, Feb. - Apr. 2020;

The mayor of Hattersheim (Germany), Klaus Schindling,
visited the exhibition at the House of St. Martin, on March the 3rd, 2020.

“Respect Instead Of
Prejudice.”

Global Development

The project started out as an initiative in Germany, but more and more photographers and homeless NGOs all over the world are joining us. Growing numbers of photos are being added to the collection from US, Hong Kong, Brazil, etc., turning the campaign into a global movement.

Behind the scene: One of the shootings

“Comes Out Of The
Shackles Where Gloom
And Pity Prevail.”

Results

Even the President of Germany applauded the project in his annual Christmas Letter.

OVER 155M TOTAL REACH
OVER €‎1.4M EARNED MEDIA