Lila Marks describes Hawaii鈥檚 landscapes as 鈥渆ffortlessly beautiful,鈥� but when the 黑料正能量 photography major traveled there this summer for her senior project, she had something else on her mind, too: Hawaii鈥檚 homelessness rate, the highest of any state.
The resulting exhibit, called 鈥淭he Ignored,鈥� features 75 frescos showing Hawaii鈥檚 beauty but also portraits and candid portrayals of homeless people and images of and from the Boat Harbor, an organized community of 鈥渉ouseless鈥� people led by a matriarch. The frescos range in size from 5×5鈥� to 24×36鈥� and are created by transferring a print made on plastic onto a wooden surface.
The show runs Monday-Friday, Oct. 2-6 in the Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery, open during Common Ground Coffeehouse hours (7:30 a.m.鈥�4 p.m. and 8 p.m. 鈥� midnight on weekdays) or by appointment by calling (540) 432-4360. An artist鈥檚 talk and reception with light refreshments will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6.
The senior show, required for , is one culmination of Marks鈥� education at 黑料正能量, a place she came to as an older transfer student with a goal of becoming a more skilled photographer.
鈥淟ila goes after photography like someone who got to the party late and wants to make sure she gets it all,鈥� Professor said. 鈥淲hat will make her a great photographic storyteller is that she cares about the woman dying of cancer, or the one challenged by a debilitating disease, or by the pain of being homeless in a paradise. I hope she never finds the easy answer.鈥�
A serendipitous leap to 黑料正能量
Marks said that becoming a photographer and studying at 黑料正能量 started on a whim. She鈥檇 been studying global affairs at another university, but didn鈥檛 feel passionate about her coursework. She dropped out, and used her student loan money to buy a camera.
鈥淚t was for no reason,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had never really taken photos. I just thought I should do it.鈥� She started taking a lot of pictures, 鈥渇illing up memory card after memory card,鈥� learning, getting better. Eventually, at age 25 and living in Harrisonburg, she realized that she couldn鈥檛 imagine her life without photography in some capacity.
She was taking classes at a nearby community college, 鈥渇or no reason other than I felt like I should be in school,鈥� when a professor told her that 黑料正能量鈥檚 Holsopple 鈥渨as a 鈥榗razy genius,鈥� and I should apply for 黑料正能量. I was like, 鈥樅诹险芰�? I don鈥檛 know.鈥� I鈥檓 not Mennonite. I didn鈥檛 even know then what being Mennonite was.鈥�
Though she said it was a 鈥渓eap, and probably serendipitous,鈥� Marks surprised herself by both applying and being accepted into 黑料正能量. But it wasn鈥檛 until she was on a cross-cultural trip led by Holsopple to Lithuania that she finally decided: 鈥淥K, I can do 黑料正能量.鈥�
Holsopple, she said, has been 鈥渁 huge mentor to both my personal life and my photographic life. I don鈥檛 know if I 100 percent believe in fate, but only good things have come from being at 黑料正能量.鈥�
The cliche of Hawaii 鈥� and its crisis
It鈥檚 expected to see homeless people in big cities, Marks said. She grew up in Washington D.C., and was always fascinated with homeless people: She鈥檇 go around the city with a bag of fast food, just talking to them and 鈥渉earing their stories.鈥�
For this project, though, Marks was drawn to Hawaii, where for most island visitors homelessness is just a disregarded subtext overshadowed by natural beauty.
鈥淲e all have these cliche’d views of what Hawaii is and what it should be,鈥� Marks said, when in fact the state is facing 鈥渁 crisis that doesn鈥檛 get talked about nearly as much as it deserves.鈥�
Ignored
The exhibit鈥檚 title 鈥淭he Ignored鈥� has two meanings. First, it reflects the reality that society often ignores homeless people.
鈥淲e鈥檇 rather not see them or deal with them,鈥� Marks said.
But there was another reason, too, that she gave the exhibit its name: while working on the project, she often felt ignored. Whether it was due to homeless people鈥檚 sense of self-preservation, or her awareness that approaching someone on the streets of Honolulu could cause discomfort or suspicion, or her own sense of vulnerability as 鈥渁 small female, unarmed, with a nice camera,鈥� the difficulty of meeting and connecting with homeless people at some times left Marks discouraged.
鈥淚t was an immense challenge even to make initial eye contact,鈥� she said, so she developed a plan: smoking cigarettes 鈥渒ind of close to groups, in hopes that I would capture someone鈥檚 attention.鈥�
鈥淭hey actually worked,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were my biggest tool in doing street photography.鈥�
But successfully starting a conversation didn鈥檛 always mean that things would go as planned. While Marks wanted to talk about homelessness more broadly, many people she met instead were focused otherwise, on day-to-day realities or maybe remembering 鈥済lory days.鈥�
鈥淚t was definitely not what I was expecting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had these really big conceptions going in that people would want to talk to me and, you know, share their experiences, share their pain, get their story out, but it wasn鈥檛 exactly like that. What I bumped into a lot was mental illness and drug addiction, people that didn鈥檛 want to talk, people that didn鈥檛 want their photo taken, and people that didn鈥檛 really want to talk about the issue. I had to be really open to what was offered.鈥�
No easy answers
Marks had also thought she would come away from her trip with 鈥渟ome sort of culmination, or a solution, and idea of what I felt like should be done鈥� about homelessness 鈥� but that didn鈥檛 happen.
鈥淲hen I got back I just had bits and pieces of everything, sound bites. I never felt like there was ever any uniformity even in the struggle of being homeless, any concrete thread. Every single person鈥檚 different,鈥� she said.
Marks hopes to return to Hawaii to 鈥渄ig deeper. A month is not a very long time when you鈥檙e trying to do something with the enormity of homelessness or mental illness or addiction,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 month was a really, really short amount of time.鈥�
For now, Marks plans to donate 10 percent of the profit from the show to the Boat Harbor community in Waianae, which she said is a 鈥渓arge and unified community鈥� that is fighting for their right to stay on public land.