27 August 2023
DULUTH How would you respond to a stranger approaching you on the street with a camera, requesting to take your portrait and asking the soul-searching question: “What do you love about yourself?”
A thought-provoking conversation starter, indeed.
Photographer Max Brunner admits the question catches many people off-guard.
“They hem and they haw. I’m realizing, wow, I don’t think we answer that question for ourselves enough,” Brunner said.
When asked what she loves about herself, Brunner pondered for a moment before saying, “I love my compassionate heart and my ability to overcome a lot of stuff.”
Over 400 portraits and accompanying stories are posted to Brunner’s photography project called Folks of Duluth on Facebook and Instagram.
Each portrait will be on display for exhibitions at Duluth Public Library on Thursday, Aug. 31 from 4-5 p.m. and at Zeitgeist Arts on Friday, Sept. 1 from 6-8 p.m.
“We are super excited to host Max Brunner’s exhibit at the library in partnership with Duluth Superior Pride,” Duluth Public Library Branch Supervisor Lori Crocker said. “We have art exhibit space in the library specifically so people feel represented as they come through the doors by the different artists in our community that we display. This exhibit in particular is the perfect representation of our diverse community. Max really does go out and photograph people in our community just a variety of people and just a beautiful way of speaking their stories through these pictures.”
“I’m really hoping that all of these framed prints will sell for $10 apiece and I could donate half of the proceeds to a couple of nonprofits in the area,” Brunner said.
Brunner studied digital art and photography at the University of Minnesota Duluth before graduating in 2013.
Now, she works as a representative payee for a Sauk Rapids nonprofit called Independent Lifestyles to serve veterans and people with disabilities. She transferred to the organization’s Duluth office in February.
“I was feeling lonesome and longed for human connection,” Brunner said.
On a whim, she began walking the downtown city streets with her Canon Mirrorless camera in hand.
In her quest, she’s meeting people from all walks of life from children to elders.
“The struggle is real. Every single person is struggling, no matter what,” Brunner said. “And everyone is facing their struggles and overcoming them in some way, shape or form.”
Brunner said she doesn’t feel unsafe when approaching strangers, although their reactions vary.
“Some people are on guard. Some people say ‘no’ right away and walk away. Some people are really excited,” Brunner said.
Time spent connecting with others on the streets has been personally healing for Brunner, who hopes it brings healing to those sharing their stories, too, as well as for her audience.
“Every city needs this. I want to give a face to the unseen and a voice to the unheard, and I think I’m able to do that through Folks of Duluth because everyone should be honored and respected, and everyone deserves love no matter what their capacity to give. Even if they can give nothing,” Brunner said.
Many of her encounters are with the homeless community, and listening to the stories of their daily struggles resonates with Brunner.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to my brother, in a way,” Brunner said. “My brother struggles with addiction and mental health. He is not capable of holding down a job nor is he able to live on his own. If my mom was not taking care of my brother, he would be homeless, or dead by now, and that’s the reality.”
She continued, “With the anger that I’ve felt, I’m like, ‘Why don’t you kick him out? Why don’t you make him find a job? Why do you keep supporting him? He’s just using you.’ I’m not a mom, so I can’t put myself in her shoes.”
But after speaking with people who battle drug addictions, Brunner is learning that some folks use drugs to help with their internal pain, while others use drugs to help with external pain.
“I can’t even imagine what these folks go through having to walk miles and miles every day with all of their belongings on their back,” Brunner said. “I’m so glad that these nonprofits who give out supplies exist because people are going to use no matter what, so why not give out unused needles?”
According to Brunner, local organizations such as RAAN and Harm Reduction Sisters that offer syringe services programs to injection drug users don’t enable drug use, but promote safety by helping to reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C throughout the community.
At times, her portrait subjects will share the extenuating circumstances that have contributed to them becoming homeless.
“Everyone, you or I, or the person at the bar up there, I think we are all one step away from becoming homeless. I mean, one hunting accident, one car accident, one snowmobile, one ski, one boating accident. …”
There are also many barriers to getting back on their feet. Some folks have felonies and are unable to get a job in Duluth or secure housing, Brunner said.
The testimonials of the Folks of Duluth range from having gratitude for being alive, to heavy criticism of broken societal systems, city practices and nonprofit resources revealing a dark underbelly of Duluth with a glimmer of hope.
“Sometimes I feel like the city is trying to do everything within its power to get rid of the homeless folks,” Brunner said.
For instance, when the power was cut off to the lamp posts along Superior Street, one woman Brunner met was upset because she was no longer able to charge her cell phone.
“It felt like the city was cutting off lines of communication for people. I mean, not even tourists could charge their phones,” Brunner said.
Then there’s the closing of the skywalk system downtown over the weekends, and the lack of benches within the skywalk, Brunner added.
“Where are people supposed to go in the heat or the frigid cold?” Brunner asked. “I mean, who cares if a homeless person comes in and wants to rest their feet or take a nap on a bench?”
She believes the downtown workforce, elderly people and other members of the general public would also probably appreciate these simple improvements, too.
In another instance, Brunner met a new mother staying at CHUM who felt the organization should have helped her further to get into a different shelter, such as Safe Haven, so she could have her baby with her.
“I’m noticing that the stories they’re telling me, that they can be sitting outside of CHUM or what-have-you and people walk by with disgust on their faces, or they’ll pretend to be on their phone, or they’ll walk by with their head hanging down,” Brunner said. “A lot of the people that’s happening to makes them feel worthless unhuman. A simple ‘hello’ would go a long ways.”
Perhaps they’re not treated the same as everyone else because of the perception that homeless folks are lazy, or that they’re choosing to be on drugs or to be homeless, according to Brunner.
“I don’t think it’s really a choice,” she said. “I think the public should stop shunning homeless folks, or people in general. They’re just like us, they’re our neighbors. Help thy fellow neighbor, right?”
Others find shelter outdoors on public or private property, claiming they don’t feel safe at CHUM or the shelter is already at full capacity, Brunner said.
“The city will come to campsites and kick people out after a week of being there. It’s like uprooting their lives after a week. Then they’ll go find another spot and the city will come and tell them that they have to go so they have to uproot their lives again and then find another spot,” Brunner said. “If they find a spot and they’re not harming anybody, why does the city have to keep shuffling people around?”
In Brunner’s opinion, the government has the power to create change and local nonprofit organizations such as Lincoln Park Children and Family Collaborative, Community Action Duluth, Life House, Safe Haven Shelter, Raan, Harm Reduction Sisters, Chum, Loaves & Fishes, Center for Changing Lives, Union Gospel Mission and AICHO can only do so much.
“The government expects all of these nonprofits to put an end to homelessness, etc. However, nonprofits are generally poor and these organizations are putting on fundraisers each year to not only keep their organization above water, but to also help the greater community. Our local government has access to land and even if our local government cannot fully fund a project, they can certainly make publicly owned land available to affordable developers in order to create more affordable housing in the area,” Brunner said.
At the end of the day, homeless individuals are exhausted just taking care of their basic self-care needs to live a humane life, Brunner explained.
While Brunner doesn’t volunteer for any specific organization, she has helped those in need with rides from the grocery store to their campsite so they don’t have to wait two hours for a bus.
“It hasn’t been taxing to me at all. It’s just made my heart bigger and my love for people grow, even for strangers I don’t know.”
If someone is really hungry, she’s provided rides to the Damiano Center or the Union Gospel Mission, where she will occasionally join them for a meal.
She encourages others to try it, “Maybe it would shed some light or something.”
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