Homelessness in a concrete jungle

Series depicting a protest taking place in Den Haag's city center raising awareness for the homeless.

This series was one of my very first assignments during my Journalism minor. I've practiced photography before this, but never as an official assignment, so it was interesting to get professional feedback on what worked and what didn't.

What I didn't anticipate was the sudden hit of imposter syndrome upon approaching the protest. Despite my familiarity with operating a camera, something about being in the presence of people and the emotional weight of the protest created a pathway for fear and doubt to seep in. Am I being creepy by taking their pictures? Do I have to ask their permission? Am I qualified enough to capture people in what might be a vulnerable state?

After contemplating this however, I had to reflect on how much of it was valid versus pointless self-doubt. I learned a lot about how I need to use my intuition about what's okay to click in street photography and what's not.

I also thought about how I would have never stumbled upon this protest if I hadn't been looking for something interesting to photograph. It taught me that I need to be more brave if I am to capture captivating stories through pictures, and is something that has stuck with me ever since then.