In-Diferente!

Photographs Exhibition.

Homeless people, challenging perceptions, spotlighting those who are disregarded.

Omar Aguayo, 35, is an advertising designer and passionate about photography; married, with two kids, and lives in Temuco, Chile. He had a transformative encounter with a homeless person; everything changed for him. It was a rainy day in the city— An inspiring moment of clearness and deep understanding of cruel reality, the meaning of being invisible and ignored by society—homelessness.

He lived the experience right before the social outbreak in October 2019, walking down the streets in Temuco, taking photos for a city contest. Suddenly, it started raining very hard, and he ran to seek shelter in a nearby “Garita.” Another man was there as well; he was homeless with a mental illness named Victor, well-known in the neighborhood because he frequently stayed there. Omar commented about his job, asking Victor if he would allow taking some pictures, and he accepted it.

This accidental encounter indeed recalls another similar well-known transcendental testimony lived by Alberto Hurtado SJ in October 1944, which also occurred on a rainy night that months later gave form to his most renowned apostolic works, the Hogar de Cristo foundation. Omar did not know about Fr Hurtado’s story.

Every night, an estimated 19,000+ people in Chile find themselves without a place to go or sleep with dignity and security. It’s a matter of social justice-essential rights denied and one of the cruelest & degrading ways of poverty. A problem that has been hidden in plain sight and not yet covered adequately by public policies.

Meeting Victor changed Omar’s perception and views entirely. Following an inner impulse, he decided to continue taking photos and listening to testimonies from homeless people, a total of 24 people. The photographs were displayed at Art Gallery -Museo Nacional Ferroviario, Pablo Neruda, Temuco, Chile, and other places.

His project wanted to bring out the newness and humanity of each person he was photographing, paying respect and attention to their dignity, never to victimize or show misery but reflecting a cruel reality and its resilience as people to survive and overcome subhuman conditions. When he started to search on this matter, he did not know anything about it. The project intended to show and bring them out from the shadows and raise flags about this reality, one of the cruelest abd degrading ways of poverty.