The Life of American Vagabonds
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June 1st, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Somethings observed here:
- the perception of your amount of freedom is proportional to the amount of dirt on your body.
- sex, sleeping, shitting, eating; it will all smell the same.
- you don’t need money to live unless you want to be clean and eat food that wasn’t tenderized by an SUV.
- there’s no need to observe sexual orientation since you would have to excavate months (years?) of thigh butter to tell who was what anyway.
- mildew, mold and mystery stains just make the mattress softer.
- meth’s a hell of a drug.
- if you’re a hobo you will always be on the cutting edge of hobo fashion.
- you’re always ready for Burning Man.
- the only thing that separates you from the mentally ill homeless is your instrument.
- alcohol is not just A food group, it is THE food group.
Opossum, it’s what’s for dinner!
June 1st, 2008 at 7:06 pm
LOL! Though I thought it would be Possum: the other *other*, white meat.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Whenever I see these kinds of people in Seattle I scream “Punky Brewsters!!!” at them as I drive by.
This is the worst possible insult you can bestow upon these kinds of people – they absolutely hate it!! Call a “Punky Brewster” a “Punky Brewster” today! It is so fun!!!!!
June 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I am torn. With one side I can easily mock this but with the other wouldn’t I be mocking myself. Yes, this is the closest modern day caveman (excluding the obvious tribal peoples who are still, blessedly, cut off from the globalized world) but this is not about freedom or money. It’s about society’s apathy and disdain for those who will not collaborate with the “system.”
Maybe rather than mock this we should be pondering what forces drive individuals to this life style and be more grateful for what we have. Our cleanliness, our possessions,…our sanity?
June 14th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
if you dont know…… you just dont know…..have fun living in your boxes with your completely flawed idea of reality
June 30th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I like how this article provides no context whatsoever to explain who these kids are. OH WAIT, actually I *don’t* like that.
It let’s you come to your own biased, bigoted conclusions, I suppose.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:14 pm
mzziqztixl said, “Maybe rather than mock this we should be pondering what forces drive individuals to this life style and be more grateful for what we have. Our cleanliness, our possessions,…our sanity?”
Really? Cleanliness and possessions were the first two things you thought of to be grateful for? I’m grateful I’m not as incredibly shallow as you. But then I guess if I judge the judgemental, then what am I?
July 19th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
They’re fun people to hang out with if you can get past the smell.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Gorgeous photographs. I’m torn between sadness and longing – for the beautiful people pictured who don’t have what I have, perhaps, but probably more for what they have that I don’t …
July 30th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
how can people judge these cats?
I don’t get it.
It’s the most spiritual path to find yourself.
I choose the same life style for 5 years of my life… and I learned so much about myself and people in that time.
Since I’ve become a “productive part of society”.
But I’m still a minimalist. And it’s all due to this lifestyle.
In my opinion… everyone should be homeless when they’re young for at least one year. One year to travel, and find who you really are.
Cus you are not your home, your computer, the people you know, your job. those things don’t make you who you are.
the experiences you encounter, the people you meet, and the time spent in your own head makes you who you are.
Peronally, I love these people.
Gypsy USA!
August 12th, 2008 at 3:37 am
As I spend my days slowly drowning in order to clean my house and tidy my smothering possessions I can only assume “Our cleanliness, our possessions,…our sanity?” was a bit tongue in cheek. My comment, after having spent most of my first 15 years of life homeless, and having been homeless twice since, is that the value of a “safe” place to sleep and eat can never be underestimated, and I personally could not sacrifice this to live a more free life… People who can should be admired.
August 16th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Wow, just wow. It’s a portrait of freedom, but a very bitter, tough freedom that comes at a price.
We all need to leave our comfortable surroundings at some point in our life, just to taste the real world. I wonder what these faces would say if they had voices, they seem content with their lot, on the edge of society.
The fascinating thing here is the reactions of people to the ‘American vagabonds’.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I can’t believe the first comment posted. I guess you’ve never tasted freedom. Funny, you’re the type of person that keeps me from joining your ‘perfect’ world.
At least I’m happy. I do shower. I don’t have lice.
I am a girl and I don’t have thigh cheese.. whatever the hell that is.
AND, I graduated college.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
excuse me.. thigh butter.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I’ve bookmarked and treasured these photos for ages, and havn’t left a comment or, a matter of fact read half the horrible misunderstandings that have been haphazardly vomited from peoples fingertips.
This is humanity, this is living.
Of what interest really is digging yourself an endless hole of dependency and need on pieces of paper that are placed with monetary value. Not the value of your self worth or how other people interpret your life style. When our generation experiences the Great Depression these people will be living the high life.
This is finding out how to live around a society that is stuffed full of expectations and conceited idealism. America is a poverty stricken country and its easier to be homeless if you’re not stuck in one place, relying on a network of friends and hospitality and understanding of freedom, of living.
These people would never be offended by your insults because the weight of them is not held in their reality. They’re travelers and only have time and energy to carry their own desires and opportunities.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:28 am
even the non-conformists are conformists.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:06 am
you are all very fascinating. each of you (us) may be studied, photographed, slandered, encouraged in much the same way as these “gypsies”, but we have institutions, time and the majority on “our side.” can you really tell me who’s better? what/whose hegemony will remain? for what ultimate, absolute goal?
why so serious?
October 7th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
These photos are staged, sorry folks. I know some of the models-or “vagabonds.” This doesn’t mean these photos cannot inspire you.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Trust Fund Babies Do Not Equal Vagabonds.
Even so, it is a good photo essay, without context.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Comparison always leads to contempt. They are our other, we are theirs.No differance.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:13 am
what amazes me is the commentary generated by this. disposable americans. you people scoff at this but gladly send $ to africa where people are robbed and butchered by their govts. i think this is why the financial crisis has blossomed. too much greed too little compassion and an accusatory govt that could care less what happens to the weaker minds that fail to adapt. get with the program or get dead seems to be the rule of the day. as far as punky brewster goes , i honestly hope he comes to appreciate the situation on an intense and deeply personal level. maybe his children will wind up like this. karma babies
October 19th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
You guys are god damn ridiculous. We are definetly not more fortunate to be living in the mainstream society that most of us do. We are enslaved in everyway possible, educators teaching us what and how we need to learn, employers making money off of us while we overproduce or produce unnecessary “goods.” We live in a world where it matters how yor lawn, car, hair, and clothes look. Watch any movie and notice the product placement. The children of today are raised by not their parents, but the media, telling them what to make their parents buy them, the newest fashion, BOGO, Mcdonalds. These people choosing to live this vagabond-like lifestyle are more sane than any of you ever could be.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”
I don’t know who said it but it describes capitalist society perfectly. I am currently studying as many foreign languages as possible and hope to begin life as a vagabond hopefully seeing the whole world (slowly of course). I have already taken a trial trip for 3 months ending at my current residence. It is different life to live like that. Extremely fun though, I met many awesome people and was exposed to many things that I never would have had I just lived at home. Those people that are true vagabonds are really free. Society ignores them leaving them to live however they feel fit. Compared to the few millionaires living in the lap of luxury, these poor twenty somethings and teens are happier and in my opinion better off. They havent had to conform to the mundane daily bullshit that everyone else does. I plan to photograph my next trip and then mail the photos to my parents house to hold on to until i finish my trip. I strongly recommend everyone takes at least a year off before they get buried in debt or stuck in a family with children and a boring job. You really do start to find yourself.
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
awesome those photos an those people, total freedom an walk around without worries, and no time, nothing of this obsesive consumer sistem, and nothing of control, i love it all of this photos, andi want to have the strong of scape of all this control and find me how should be, thenks for this experience and awesome life, take care, and i wish all of u the strong that i need ( i will have any day of my life )( and sorry for my basic english
i never be good in grammar
jajaj)
October 26th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I partially agree with many here who lambast the trappings of our materialistic society – but never underestimate the importance, purely on a survival/comfort level, of having a relatively stable place to sleep and eat and shit and clean yourself. Obviously wage labor is no fun, but neither is never being able to go all the way to sleep because someone might try to steal your small and important cache of possessions while you do.
That said there are alternatives to being a mindless materialistic wage slave or a homeless person. It looks like some of these people have built themselves a pretty serviceable shelter. You can do it too. If you have more time than money, build a house instead of buying one.
October 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
well.
“civilization” is the balancing of Man and nature
so much of civilization is wrong
it motivates many of us
to step away
to one degree or another
to try and go back to the beginning
figure things out
and do “it” right from scratch
what these kids need is simply some honest open guidance.
from a well informed kind person
throughout the centuries mankind as built up a collective wisdom that is often missing from many peoples lives to such a degree that they are convinced theres nothing there.
so much garbage to sort thru.
to separate the good from the bad
10,000 years of civilization
its much faster if your given a hand.
then theres no need to reject everything
to through out the baby with the bath water as they say
without guidance
and to try and start from scratch
is hard
as it was 5000 years ago
before there were cities and microwaves
and hot chocolate
and 21st century wisdom
find space to breath
people who care
actual Civilization.
Read a book
take yoga
dance all night
hug a stranger
go skinny dipping
chose a fun career (pilot, chef, farmer?)
get your friends together, get part time jobs and rent a huge house together
be strong, be kind, be honest, be smart
read literature
and bakes apples pies
its all good
November 6th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I live in a major metro area and after talking with and hanging out with “passers-by”, I find some of these comments rather fascinating and disturbing.
Making fun of people who are either forced into this lifestyle or choose to live this lifestyle is just plain ignorant. Who are you to judge? That bum or vagabond passing through town or asking for any spare money might be you some day. You never know. Stop and think about that.
It is very ignorant and offensive to think that ALL of the people without a permanent residence are drunks or drug addicts or grifters. I recommend sitting down and actually talking with some of these people. They are people just like you and I and I have learned a lot just by talking with some of these individuals.
If you see someone in need, panhandling out in front of a store, I suggest that you take a minute or two out of your “busy” schedule to shake their hand and share a smoke with them. If you walk into a restaurant then spend a few extra bucks to provide some food or give them your “doggie bag”. If you have enough money to take left-over food to your house and let it sit in the fridge until you toss it out 2 days later you can surely give it to someone who will appreciate it.
These are just tips from my experiences with homeless individuals. I am sure that I will raise controversy, but that was not my intention.
November 8th, 2008 at 11:59 am
i think the worst mistake any of us can make is to assume that civilized society is farther away from the state of nature than these guys.
granted vagabonds are more one-with-nature than any of us with computers which we use to see these photos and comment on anonymously… but the civilized world has more insecurities and brutalities contrary to Hobbes’ leviathan utopia.
the civilized world is shrouded by fear, shackled by luxury and the desire for more… we are finding out more and more that for a civilized man, life is far more brutish, nasty, and short.
these vagabonds live long days, sleep short hours, and therefore spend more of their time conscious and aware than us workers mindlessly staring into our CPU’s, typing up tps report, sweeping the floors of shopping malls, scanning the price-tags on designer shoes… and yes i did say “us” workers… im finding out after reading these comments that i spend more of my time figuring out how to live TOMORROW, than how to live today. we spend a lot of time at work so we can spend a lot more time doing nothing in the safety of our homes.
a few posts ago, someone said: “I partially agree with many here who lambast the trappings of our materialistic society – but never underestimate the importance, purely on a survival/comfort level, of having a relatively stable place to sleep and eat and shit and clean yourself”
first off, a safe place to sleep? in a vagabond world no one goes around trying to OUST people from their living spaces – however, this occurs frequently in civilized society. secondly, if public restrooms had showers, perhaps our bums would look a lot more civilized? thirdly, what safety are you seeing in civilized society? i mean unless you live in a gated community, no society is safe. in fact there are a lot more crimes in civilized society, than there are in vagabond society. i mean when you are sleeping with a bunch of your friends in an open park… are you gonna be worried about someone stealing your non-possessions? the only things that are there to steal are locked up in civil society and their homes. and vagabonds aren’t theifs… at least they have the courteously to ask you for your money rather than scam it away over the television or other capitalist industries.
its no wonder that civilized people end up committing crimes (stealing, killing, etc), they are still in the state of nature without realizing it… a false sense of security in my eyes.
take a good look at both the vagabond and the civilized world, and tell me who acts more like animals… rather than who appears less civilized and happens to smell… the difference is staggering
3rd year poli sci major
oklein@uci.edu
November 19th, 2008 at 1:42 am
reminds me of jack kerouac’s descriptions in ‘on the road.’ its wild how nothin has changed but abit of fashion. go to a thirdworld country and see these kids as livin laaaarge.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
“Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothin left to lose’”
November 28th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
A while back I read a story about two dudes from Boston who decided to take a few weeks off work, pack up their bags with a couple days changes of clothes, two bottles of water, a bar of soap, and one emergency-only prepaid cell phone (that they never did use). And that’s it. Their goal was to see how far West they could get, by any means they could get there. Hitchhiking, riding rails, and a whole lot of walking. Since I’ve read that story I’ve wanted to try it. Since stumbling upon these pictures, I KNOW I’m going to do it… in about 4 years. I’m in the military right now and contractually obligated for another 4 years. After I get out, I know I will take a year off from everything, pack all my shit into storage and hit the road.
November 30th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Does anybody remember Chris McCandless? Or the movie Into the Wild that was based off him? These photos are not intended for mocking but for observing and appreciation. We are quick to judge people but you got to look beneath the pictures and understand the story. People look at these people and see dirty disgusting people but in reality they are afraid of the concrete jungle and we are afraid of their jungle so we mock them. I do not have the right to bash them because I have not been through or have done what they are doing. In easier terms I cannot make claims of going to the moon because it suck without having gone there. So I have not right of judging these people without going what they have gone and are going through. Basically what I am trying to say is don’t be so quick to judge. And judging by the pictures and some of your comments they have lived and appreciated life more than many of you have, and probably more than you ever will.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Photographer of some (possibly all) of these is Mike Brodie, aka Polaroid Kidd.
There’s a (big) collection of his work here: http://svr84.ehostpros.com/~plrds84/images/
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I don’t feel sorry for any of these bums, they are disgusting and many of them are on the side of the road asking for a handout. Instead of begging for food and sympathy they should instead spend their efforts on finding a job, hell i am sure mcdonalds or taco bell need the help.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:14 am
There is much held within these photos. I do feel it is sad that so many of those commenting have lost their appreciation of the photo.
Photos in many ways have changed the world, and these attempt nothing more than just that. You are to look at them and open your mind to what they depict.
Freedom, homelessness, pain, joy, suffering desire- if these thoughts don’t enter your mind then you haven’t much of one.
This is part of our own culture and our world. you are not being asked to accept it or consider it, but that is not an invitation to shout your callous and ignorant propaganda in all our faces.
I urge each and every one of you to develop a passionate stance on what you see here, and by all means say what you feel. Be observant, however, that ignorance and plucky witticisms have done little in the way of world progression. and in the end, no matter what side of the tracks you are on, progress must be made and thought provoced.
Thank you,
Good day
January 7th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I think this is some kind of art project…
do you really think there are that many homeless people with cool, grungy (in the fashion and literal sense :D) clothes, and stylish facial hair? Have you ever visited a homeless shelter? There isn’t anyone there under 30 that isn’t volunteering…
where as an art school would be just loaded with white 20-year-olds that look that way (albeit, cleaner) because its the hipster way to go.
January 7th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
…I just spent 4 hours detailing my 2008 passat wagon. I am very proud of my accomplishment through hard work. Enjoy your hard work.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:36 am
The (GRD) great republican depression is upon us! Wall St. crashed, banks are closing, credit is tightening around our necks, gasoline is about to go through the roof because OPEC decided to pump less causing a shortage and price hikes for themselves, Obama’s plan is to print Trillions of dollars, robbing any value left in the sawbuck and stealing from our creditors, our last great manufactories-the car builders are hat in hand for socialist handouts from the government while the people go hungry in the streets, most jobs have gone “off-shore” to Asians who can work for less because they payno taxes and do not support huge expensive social structures like American workers – when is the last time a Chinaman had to pay a $200.00 traffic ticket?, the remaining money in the country is rapidly converting to Euros, our food supply is so poisoned some countries refuse to eat it (S.Korea + Mexico)! China actually exports food to the U.S., the military/industrial complex breaks our backs with taxes, we fight as mercenaries for Saudi oil in Iraq, scarce jobs of low quality in service industries at part time level or “occasional” for University graduates are discouraging a generation of Americans, America has more people in prison per capita than all other countries and most are black?, one in four of our teenage daughters, count’em 1 in 4 have STDs, our meat is so contaminated with hormones the government buries statistics that show hormones forced extremely early puberty is at epidemic levels,to qualify as desirable an American woman must be a surgically altered Barbie Doll mindless sex object, psychotic consumerism is an ideal and a goal for Americans,Americans are forced to work for private tyrannies called corporations and most often forbidden by coersion to form unions, Universal health care is suppressed by the upper class to give them a “lever od oppression” against the average “free” American citizen – even returning veterans are imprisoned and enslaved in this oppressive way, The post GRD world will equalize all these things. We will all live in Shanty-towns. America because of the greed of the ruling uber-class will look like the former U.S.S.R. does today! It is already happening before our eyes! Look t the closed steel mills, closed factory buildings, Detroit City, the Ohio valley! then look on this same internet at the photos of Russian ruins today – same pictures, different time frame! A handful of photos if disenfranchised Americans is just an indicator of what is to come!Once our riches have been raped and safely packaged away in Dubai and other safe havens, and the sly shylocks are safely jetted away, we will spend a century mopping up behind them! We left our countries of origin for a better life, and in three or four generations, a new “ruling Class has evolved and raped us of our very lives! we are back to the GRD and folks ride the rails to survive emotionally from the beating the upper class bastards have put on their very souls! And this time we have nowhere to emigrate to!
January 8th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Anyone know where i can get in with some street kids like these? I’m a photo major and i would love nothing more than to run with these guys and take photos.
January 10th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I have seen these pictures before,
and from what I remember this is Russia, not America.
January 11th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Actually Jordan, they are from America. The photographer goes by the name “The Polaroid Kid.”
He has a lot more beautiful photos like these.
To everyone who has been saying shit, a few of these people are actually friends of mine, and shame on yall.
To “Me”… you’ll generally find kids like us flying signs, bumming for spare change, and in your local parks.
SQUAT THE PLANET!
January 13th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
I am totally for minimalism within my life, I just re-decorated and threw a load of crap out. That’s pretty much as far as I wish to go in terms of possessions, because, call me shallow (and we’re all hypocrites here writing this undoubtedly on computers in warm homes) but I do like the fruits of modern society.
I can wake up and wash and then create nutritious yet delicious food in a kitchen, and then relax and watch such daytime opuses such as Quincy ME or Diagnosis Murder. Does this make me such a terrible person? That I do not necessarily wish to cast off my ultra-capitalist shackles which include wonderful books, radio, music and television?
For what benefit of society do these people have except to leach what little they can from decent, hard working people? Fair enough, they are probably making a sacrificial stand against the global village or Microsoft or something as equally vague as that but what real purpose do they serve?
Take for example the young lady shaving her head in the mirror. She is so wonderfully bohemian and beautiful in a non-conformist new age style, but wait a minute… Electric clippers? Stick it to the man why don’t you, some tribes people from the Amazonian basin use piranha teeth to cut hair, so why steal electricity from ‘the man’ to cut your rad style? I’m sorry guys, I just don’t get it.
I hate the way in which people look up to these nomads, what sort of protest are they making? Self sufficiency? I don’t think so. They all look like such a Glastonbury cliché! To be completely honest, they all look far too clean cut to be real tramps. I have had contact with homeless people before and the certainly didn’t care as much about their appearance as these folks do.
Whilst browsing these photos I really did think that they were a hokey set-up of supposedly ‘candid’ art until these comments starting spouting the usual shite from silver spoon American college students who so wish that they were as brave or as cool or as radical as people who have decided to… Become filthy, to not contribute in any way to society other than to take albeit small amounts of money from people who have JOBS, and eat things that cars have run over.
The photo’s themselves are pretty ordinary, nothing ground breaking or world changing about people who seem a little too bohemian to be the real homeless. Far too fashionable if you ask me.
Now seriously people, don’t look to become a travelling pikey, get a job doing something worthwhile for society to make it a better place. Doctor, teacher, computer games tester, they’re all good. Just don’t, I implore you, to think that the above is a worthwhile lifestyle choice and that by doing it you create anything more than a slightly harder society for all those people that, gosh, bit the bullet, went out, found a job, and put something back for everyone else.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Great set… a bunch of run away trust fund babies who claim to some sort of “enlightenment.” Reminds me of the trash I see by the park in San Francisco.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Why all the anger at these photos – they’re just kids trying something out. It does remind me of how much I appreciate wool clothing, though, because you can be anything from a railroad tramp to a woodsman, to guy drinking cappuccinos in little Italy; and at the end of the day the dirt just dries and falls off, and everone can look respectable.
January 17th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I’m 23, and currently planning on hitting the road and living a sort of vagabond lifestyle. But I’m planning to do it in my car, with a few creature comforts–and probably working odd jobs here and there to help support what my savings will eventually stop paying for. And I don’t know how long this will last, or where I’ll end up. I have that desire for freedom and spiritual discovery.
But with that said, I can’t imagine living like the people in these pictures. What strikes me most is that almost none of them look happy. They look down trodden and lifeless. And so much uncleanliness opens you up to so many painful ways of living–including illness and disease–that it hardly seems worth it.
Maybe I’ll meet some of these kinds of people on the road and come to understand them better. Maybe I’ll become one myself. Or maybe I’m still caught in my own illusion, and maybe I won’t see it until I’m “out there” again.
It’s the journey, I guess.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:25 am
اولين و بزرگترين مسابقه شواليه های سياه در ايران
علاقه مندان به شرکت در اولين و بزرگترين مسابقه شواليه های سياه می توانند در زمينه های زير آثار خود را حداکثر تا تاريخ 30 /11/87 ارسال نمايند:
عکس
فيلم
طراحی
کاريکاتور
داستان
مقاله…..
در موضوعات:
فرقه شيخيه
فرقه بابيت
فرقه بهائيت
فرقه وهابيت
و ساير فرق اديان
آثار خود را به سايت HTTP://TARHENO.INFO
جوايز ويژه اين مسابقه به آدرس برگزيدگان ارسال می شود
منتظر آثار شما هستيم
January 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am
فقر و تنگدستی چیزی است که تقریبآ دامن همه کشورها رو گرفته
انشاءالله با کمک همدیگر وسیاستهای دولنمردان بشود این مشکلات رو برطرف کرد
به امید آن روز
التماس دعا
خداحافظ
January 18th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
photoshopped.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am
as long as they are happy then i am happy for them. i have had similar experiences and remember them fondly. keep on keepin on!
January 19th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
With certain freedoms come a price. I would give all my comforts and tangible objects to be free to do what I want when I want. Conforming with society can become so stressful it kills you. And they are the ones really leading the hard life. Kudos!
January 19th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Trustafarians. It’s just a phase. Sometimes while trying to get real you slosh through a farcical swamp.
January 20th, 2009 at 5:56 am
walk a mile in my shoes etc..there but for the grace of god…
and now, the economy tanked, many more will be living on the streets…got a job, a nice life? count your blessings andhelp those without or in need.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I’m not really impressed by the pictures,sorry, but… it’s funny to see some of the judgments in the replies.
I’ve never met the people on THESE pictures, so what can I say about ‘m without making up stories ?
January 20th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
i do think this is very original,
January 21st, 2009 at 6:22 am
A lot of these chicks have pretty nice tits and bodies… shows that most of the women in this country need to cut down on the fat. The dudes all look like smelly pieces of crap… all in all, as long as they’re not costing me, the tax payer… let them live. But man, what animals.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 am
aside from all the discussion and judgments here – from an aesthetic point of view, these photos are incredible.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Hi Kids!
Having lived on the Street for one year and outside the social system all my life, I can honestly tell you that adventure is fun! You don’t have to be ragged and dirty because their are Restaurants and Garages around the world with Bathroom Toilets and sinks and often, towels and paper; but it is good to carry your own washcloth within a Plastic Baggy, as well as a small Towel. Clean your socks on a regular basis. Offer to do work for food everywhere and anywhere and smile and life will smile back at you…or…take drugs and prepare for death.
January 24th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
So? American vagabonds….good for them. They need nothing/ shun everything. Good for them. I have “stuff”, I clean it, perhaps get bogged down by it. So? It does not define me, I define me. They have what they want, I have *most* of what I want (some things take time). If you look at those pictures and think to yourself that they are living the perfect tortured poetic life, then YOU are living the lie. But that doesn’t mean that their life is anymore beautiful because it is minimalistic.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am
It would be awesome to run across them in the woods… kill the men and rape the chicks and post photos of THAT… I may not know art, but I know what I like.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I think these people are absolutely beautiful. What they are doing, what they have chosen to be, the way they choose to live. It’s all beautiful. So what if they don’t want to be a part of the pitiful place the majority of the world has become? While you are sitting around being thankful for your ‘possesions and cleanliness’, they too are just as thankful for the things that they have. It’s not fair to critisize them or to say that they are wrong for living the way that they do. They are no different than you other than maybe they don’t shower as often and they travel in other ways than you see fit. Who cares? It’s their choice, and doesn’t effect you whatsoever. Just let it be and get on with your life.
Oh, & for whoever it was who didn’t know who these people are, the definition for ‘vagabond’ is “a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support”.
Thanks to anyone who didn’t completely bash these people.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:28 am
I agree with pounder… they should just be subjugated to our sexual & violent will. They are asking for it… they have made themselves cattle for the harvest of the more powerful and must now suffer the fate as such.
January 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Don’t know about the whole “cattle” thing… but would definitely love to trade a blow job for a can of soup with the dirty girls in the pack.
January 28th, 2009 at 6:33 am
You guys are dumb. Kill the women & rape the men.
Maybe wash them first.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
ad campaign. fake hippies. trustafarians. lame.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Filthy fucks. There should be work camps for their ilk.
January 29th, 2009 at 10:59 am
More Like Death Camps (amiright?)
February 4th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Behold… the Obama Generation….
February 5th, 2009 at 5:32 am
I LOVE how being a useless tramp is suddenly held up us some noble aspiration… get a fucking job and take a fucking shower. They all look like they stink of old cigarettes, shit and B.O.
February 6th, 2009 at 7:57 am
They look like AIDS.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:05 am
Get used to scenes like this… it is where about 50% of us will be in a short time. We are on the brink of the greatest financial depression in history… and you all have a front row seat. Many of you will have starring roles… this is going to be you in a year. bring your knives… your ice picks… your claw hammers… the Walking Man is HERE!
February 11th, 2009 at 5:37 am
These people are ugly… why don’t they get jobs and get off my internets?
February 21st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
what drives them to live this way? or better yet what drives us to live the way we do, we’re followers, yes men, posers, hypocrites, greedy, liars……. Mabey what looks like a brutal and harsh life for them at times my just in fact be more pleasant and relaxing in all reality. Not walking in a rut only to follow the leaders in life, living up to written standards set before us just so we’re molds of the norm… I salute these persons for being who they are and living how they live and not how there expected to be by we. god bless
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:39 am
Every single photo is shopped, you can tell by the pixels.
Nobody lives like this. We all have big houses and nice microwave ovens.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:16 am
Filth.
March 4th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I know a few ‘Neo-Vagabonds’ and it’s really striking how much of their lifestyle is just a clique. Fashion plays a big part, as you can see…No, I’m not being sarcastic!
March 13th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Hello.
I say Mariko.
Please link my site.
Spend good 1st.
‘http://marikotoyoko.blogspot.com/’
March 21st, 2009 at 12:46 am
It seems like people viewing these pictures either get it or they don’t. Some people choose to step out of a shitty culture and problematic society and are blamed by the people still trapped in that world as being the problem with society, when really the problem with society is society itself.
“The problem with the human race and society is that at it’s core it’s a bunch of people trying to make themselves happy by standing on each other’s shoulders and kicking each other’s teeth in.” –Terrance McKenna
April 1st, 2009 at 8:11 am
Bend them over…hose them down… pump them till they pass out… leave them in a boxcar.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:11 am
They should be ground into feed for my pomeranian and their skin could be used for a nice purse and shoes. I would make exciting and trendy jewelry from their teeth and sell them at mall art fairs to the hipster-doofus-sheep.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:51 pm
i doubt that half of these people are true hobos (a hobo is a traveling worker without a home). Most of them look like tramps (bums [people who refuse to work] who travel), or addicts.
These people aren’t seeking freedom- they simply don’t want to live by society’s rules. There’s an extreme difference there. A true, proud hobo will go from place to place, but they won’t beg, they work for what they need, and they keep clean as often as possible. Most of the true hobos of today even have nice, respectable homes, and they travel weekends or whenever the ‘itch’ gets them to go. The people in these photos simply don’t want to work, or if they do what they get it spent elsewhere. Living in dirt and grime is not a true aspect of all hobos.
see here for a much prouder group of hobos.
http://www.hobo.com/convention.htm
June 16th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I’d bet my next paycheck, that more than half of those people, seen in those pictures, come from rich families somewhere.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:15 am
After reading all of these posts, I have come to the conclusion that no one gets it. And the truth of the matter is, you’re not suppose to get it. The only way to understand it is to live it, and if you can’t handle dropping everything in life, then don’t even bother hopping that train in the first place.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:57 pm
So what if they come from rich families? So the rich should stay rich and the poor can be poor? That aside… I do not understand the hatred and anonymous threats of rape and murder of these people. It makes me sad that there are people in the world who feel such anger and feel so threatened by some young people who are travelling about. Are people afraid that if it is shown how to live without all the you know, the whole stereotyped package, SUV, house in the ‘burbs, job, go to the hairdresser, buy products… if we can live without that our whole picture of what is possible and what we value is turned upside down and this is uncomfortable. Well, like it was said, if you know, you know, and if you don’t know, there is nothing to say unless you are willing to listen.
Thanks for posting these lovely photos, don’t care if they are photoshoped or whatever. People don’t get pissed at paintings! But photographs have to be absolutely real and untouched? Whatever. I love it.
August 12th, 2009 at 11:26 am
initially curious when vagabond kids moved into our neighborhood of chicago this summer, now just annoyed. they go out of their way to harass people and block traffic. and they don’t pick on suits or guys coming out of the gym…they scream at hipsters, follow young couples and bicyclists down the street, antagonize the artists in the building they sit in front of, presumably because those people are pretty unlikely to throw a punch. not impressive. two months ago i was sympathetic, now i just want to tell them to grow the fuck up.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I’ve actually met the girl with the facial tattoo in the third picture in Spokane, WA. She was one of the most down to earth and real people I’ve ever met.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:49 pm
don’t hate appreciate!
October 18th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I have an 18 year old daughter who has become attracted to the vagabond lifestyle. She wants to drop out of a very good university and pursue this lifestyle and shun society and all its’ trappings. She wants to be where people are non-judgmental, accepting, sharing, caring and no one needs money. The irony of this is that these people feed off the very society they shun. They claim to be non-judgmental but they judge everyone that chooses to fit in to the norms of society and not live on the fringes. They are not conccious and aware, they are mostly in a drug or alcohol induced haze of some type or another and many are teetering on the edge of or in a full blown mental illness. This is not freedom, having to rely on the benevolence of strangers in society to provide your daily needs and being in constant risk of disease, danger and addiction. This is the height of selfish acts by mostly spoiled kids rejecting their upbringing. This lifestyle destroys families and souls. If through some happenstance of bad luck, someone becomes homeless than by all means, help them. These vagabonds are simply looking for handouts, no responsibilities and no expectations on them from anyone. They wrap that in a facade of “alternate lifestyle” and freedom and non-judmental language that is laughable and pathetic. They need to grow up and realize the very society they reject is the only reason they have the luxury of becoming vagabonds. Grow up and get real. This is the ultimate in selfishness and the belief that the world owes them something and they have no responsibility to contribute to society in a meaningful way.
December 19th, 2009 at 2:08 am
The hate and vitriol in some of these posts astounds me–why are you all so threatened by what is different from yourselves? And why do you presume to know what statement is being made by the photographer, whether he is ‘promoting’ this lifestyle or not? To me what stands out about these photos is the color and in some shots, the light, not so much the subject matter, though that is obviously relevant. I am grateful to Mike Brodie for documenting a subculture that I have long been both fascinated and at times repulsed by and that certainly impacted my youth. Whatever their origins and motivations, it can’t be denied that these young folks represent a modern movement in America and for that alone I would say they are worthy subject matter.
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March 19th, 2010 at 9:52 am
These people are just shit. Why am I supposed to respect, appreciate, tolerate or give a fuck about them? They are like roaches under foot and exactly as useful or productive. Ugly, dirty and annoying in their contempt, they would be better suited living out in the real wilderness somewhere with the rest of the animals. Fuck them.
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July 4th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
To “serenity”:
Your reply is probably one of the most narrow-minded replies lately. I wonder who is the most sane, the vagabonds who DARE leave this so-called society of “ours” to live their own lives, bound by their own rules. Or you, who submit yourself to this “protective” society of “ours. Open your eyes, take a good look around yourself. You ever wonder why “our” society(the western) has the highest suicide rates in the world? It has perhaps never even occurred to you?
The world owes us nothing, but the society and civilization does. It owe us an apology for the atrocities committed on this earth everyday. It owes an apology to all the people suffering and dying at this very moment for your comforts. Ever thought about that? So what if some people decide to leafe and live off the scraps off this society in the US? There are approx. 3 BILLION people living on the scraps of western society everyday. Ever thought about that? Oh, what the drugs and alcohol? Where do they come from? “Our” society.
Think about it.
July 31st, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I think they should be turned into servant/sex slaves of the rich.
August 6th, 2010 at 1:18 am
Major thanks for the article post. Will read on…
August 17th, 2010 at 7:48 am
These aren’t real hobos, they’re suburban kids that wanted that picked up a Malatesta book in their local library and wanted to rebel against their parents and this plutocracy.
This is no way to “fight the power”. Oh well, they’re young and unproductive, but it’s their lives, not mine.
Pursuing a hobo lifestyle is always easy in the Industrialized nations. It’s not as glamorous as a Gogol Bordello videoclip in the undeveloped countries.