Invisible People Vlog

Published November 08, 2008 @ 11:40AM PT

Mark Horvath was once homeless on Hollywood Boulevard. Today, he is capturing the stories of homeless people on his new vlog, Invisible People.

Raw, unedited, and in-depth (each video is about ten minutes long), the stories of the people Horvath interviews are compelling. A disclaimer on the site cautions: "Some content may be offensive. We hope you'll get angry enough to do something."

Chet is one of the first interviewees. He's been living on the streets of Hollywood for three and a half years. He has suffered multiple heart attacks and sleeps in an abandoned doorway on Hollywood Boulevard. Here's his story:

Chet from invisible people on Vimeo.

Vlogger Mark Horvath has an interesting story himself. Once a homeless addict in Hollywood, he is now a successful filmmaker and producer. He offers a nice explanation for starting this unique project:

I once heard a story about a homeless man on Hollywood Blvd who really thought he was invisible. But one a day kid handed the man a Christian pamphlet. The homeless guy was shocked and amazed, "what! You can see me? How can you see me? I'm invisible!"

It isn't hard to comprehend this man's slow spiral into invisibility. Once on the street, people started to walk past him, ignoring him as if he didn't exist... much like they do a piece of trash on the sidewalk. It's not that people are bad, but if we make eye contact, or engage in conversation, then we have to admit they exist and that we might have a basic human need to care. But it's so much easier to simply close our eyes and and shield our hearts to their existence.

The purpose of this vlog is to make the invisible visible. I hope these people and their stories connect with you and don't let go. I hope their conversations with me will start a conversation in your circle of friends.

It's amazing what we can learn when we stop long enough to pay attention to what's happening around us. Thanks to Mark for capturing these stories and sharing them with the world.

Share this Post

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.