invisiblepeople.tv
The internet is wrought with folks trying to carve a living out of marketing, web design, blogging, online sales and video-for-the-web. From solid and sound startups, to hobbyists, to those hoping to go viral, the web is a place where business is business as usual and dreams are waiting to be realized; but for one Los Angeles video producer/blogger, it’s anything but. Mark Horvath, having survived being homeless himself on Hollywood Blvd. has made it his mission to make that which goes ignored and unseen every day – seen. His goal: to make the invisible… visible. Welcome to invisiblepeople.tv.
When one thinks of a homeless person, the mind reaches for an image of an older man, filthy from the street, panhandling. We all have a vague recollection of the homeless people that we’ve come in contact with, but alas – only a vague one. Why? Because we don’t want to look them in the face. We don’t want to have to deal with the grim reality, and in this economy more and more people are finding themselves just a paycheck or two away from a similarly grim reality.
Mark uses his camera and his television production skills to capture the stories of people living on the streets. He gives them the opportunity to share their experience so that we might better understand not just their plight, but rather the causes of homelessness so that we might be better capable of coming toward solutions to end it. Through his lense, Mark (@hardlynormal on Twitter) shows us that homelessness isn’t just panhandlers and people sleeping under bridges; rather, we learn that these are people just like us in bad situations that ran out of options.
While some of them are hard to watch, I think that its imperative that we all watch and listen and pay witness to their lives, their stories because in the words of Solomon Burke, “None of us are free, while one of us is chained.” These are just a few of their stories.
Marco and Cherese from invisible people on Vimeo.
Mark from invisible people on Vimeo.
Sandy from invisible people on Vimeo.
Thomas from invisible people on Vimeo.
If you enjoyed or appreciated these videos please check http://www.invisiblepeople.tv and leave a comment to let Mark know how much his hard work is appreciated. You can also follow invisiblepeople.tv on Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook.