What's the Hardest Part About Being Homeless?

" No One Sees Me..."

I was in downtown Toronto on a cold November day when I saw a young man sleeping on a sidewalk grate for warmth. I could not help but wonder whose son this was. A month later, in Indianapolis, a homeless man expressed concern that I did not have a coat. With these two experiences, a journey began that would take me from East coast to West, and from Chicago to New Orleans, photographing the people of the street and learning some of their stories.

Asked about the hardest part of being homeless, one person replied, "No one sees me."

This book is devoted to helping them be seen.
– David Sleppy


"No One Sees Me" courtesy of WTHR Channel 13, Indianapolis
Kevin Rader, Reporter; Steve Rhodes, Photographer

In his new book, No One Sees Me, photographer and author David Sleppy does see the common souls drifting among us. He hears their stories. He wants to know.

Do we?

Perhaps it is because each is a bit too common, too much a reflection of our own weaknesses, our own guilt, that we dare not look.

Homelessness. Hunger. Sleppy brings us into not only the reality of individual situations portrayed through bound pages of masterfully-captured images; he also narrates the story of each spirit, reflecting the loneliness of course, as well as the passion, and the human kindness of the stranger on the street.

Dare we listen to the voices of the street? Dare we open our spirit to theirs? Or is this a danger beyond our responsibility, a problem beyond our scope?

An eloquent book of photography, a social commentary of civil blindness, a cautionary tale of our own self-destruction, a tender reflection of the struggle of a mother and her daughter, a teenager’s personal plight, the story of a friend we never knew...

No One Sees Me is a powerful depiction of our overlooked brothers and sisters; readers will hear their own voices upon completing Sleppy’s journey: I see you... I see you.

About the Author:

David Sleppy is a businessman in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he has lived since 1986.

Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, he was raised in a military family and lived in Europe and various places in the United States. He attended the University of Kentucky and lived in Lexington for eighteen years.