J
ames Payzont is “proud to be a resident of Lynn.’’ He loves its landmarks like High Rock Tower, where, on a recent day, he could view the entire panorama of the city through the lens of his 35mm camera.
Born and raised here, Payzont, 40, aspires to own a house-painting business one day, get married, and have a child.
But that dream is on hold. He’s living in a rooming house, a transitional stop for people who have left the Lynn Emergency Shelter and are working toward becoming productive residents. The donated camera in his hands brings him hope and elevates him to a creative place where he can envision a future.
This winter, Lynn Shelter Association vice president Karen Bowden came to the shelter to ask residents if anyone wanted to be trained to use a camera to chronicle their daily lives on the streets. She told them photos would be enlarged, mounted, and exhibited in a September fund-raiser for the opening of a day center for homeless people.
A dozen residents jumped at the chance. The Off the Grid project places $300 cameras (discounted to $90 by Best Buy) into participants’ hands.
Six devotees meet with volunteer mentors most Saturdays. Photographers Susan Ogan, Isaac Subillaga, Jade Brewer, and Christina Demur advise the participants about focus, composition, and lighting as they move about the streets of Lynn. They concentrate on their new perspectives of the beach, the Common, the library, City Hall, and even their own reflections in storefront windows. Sometimes, Subillaga accompanies them by train into Boston, often after dusk, which presents the cityscapes in entirely different shades of light.
“The mentors teach them to document their stories and show what they want to tell about themselves,’’ said Bowden, who initiated the project after learning about similar ones using disposable cameras in London and Paris. In Lynn, the participants hold onto their Panasonics all week. Consequently, in addition to feeling empowered, they’ve collectively captured a thousand images.
Margarita Laboy, 58, came to Lynn from Puerto Rico as a child.
“I love Lynn, but it’s changed,’’ she said. “It’s still beautiful, but it was more beautiful. It makes me sad to see the city I was raised in looking this way: houses abandoned, trash. People don’t care about the city.’’
Disabled and living on Union Street, Laboy had put up with no heat and dilapidated surroundings until she had a hip replacement in March 2015. When she returned home, she could no longer endure the cold.
“I went to the shelter for three months. It was the hardest thing a person can do during the winter,’’ said Laboy. “I would stay in the laundry room, helping out. I can’t work.
“This project, I love it. I love photography — any kind. It could be funny, could be sad. It could be winter. I do it every Saturday and I’m getting better. People expressing themselves, that’s the kind that I like to take. Where I live, it snowed one day and the trees had snow on the top and it looked so pretty. And there were birds in the trees, so I took a picture.’’
The photo was a hit. Bowden enlarged it, created a poster, and put it on display. Laboy was thrilled with the attention and the positive feedback from children and adults.
For Dr. Alison Brookes, president of the Lynn Shelter Association, Off the Grid transforms participants into being “visible instead of invisible, and having a voice to express who they are. They are not just homeless people.’’
Brookes has her eye firmly on the ultimate goal, the gala photo exhibition and fund-raiser on Sept. 17 at LynnArts, to bring in money to establish a day center. The Lynn Emergency Shelter houses 44 adults on beds and another 25 on mats, said program director Kim Graham. People can stay inside the shelter around the clock during bad-weather months. But starting June 1, they must leave from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., so they are back on the streets, most with no place to go.
The day center, to be called The Sun Angel Refuge, will have books, computers, access to case managers in adjoining offices, bathrooms, and a place to rest.
The multipurpose space, to be located in a renovated portion of a building owned by the association, will not only benefit homeless people — it also will be to Lynn’s advantage because they will not have to roam the streets, said Brookes.
“Local businesses will be more likely to thrive as a result,’’ she said.
Many people would like to help, but they don’t know how. The fund-raiser is how, Brookes said. “We just want someplace for them to go during the day. That’s our goal.’’
Bette Keva can be reached at bettewk@gmail.com.
