Foreclosure

Sometimes it's good to be a reporter and photographer. Yesterday I had to figure out how to shoot a story on foreclosure. The reporter didn't really know where she would go with the story, and it was slated to run today. After several calls and no leads on photos, I got a little worried once 1:30 rolled around. So I got a list of people whose homes were going to be sold due to foreclosure, and started calling them. I can't describe the awkwardness of cold-calling someone to ask if you can take photos of them in their home they're losing. To say I felt like scum doesn't quite hit it. Finally, after many many calls, I found a woman who was willing to talk to me and the reporter. Success! Not only would I get the photos but our reporter would have something more than an "official response" as well. Mrs. Evans turned out to be a very charming and bright person (as you can see from the photos.) She moved out of her house away from her husband to raise her son on her own. She couldn't make the payments on her new house though, and now it will be sold in mid-March. She hasn't even finished renovating it yet. This is the hard part of the job ... to see someone who is genuinely nice be handed a steaming pile of modern society, with no one around to help them. The best I can do is put a face on the problem, so hopefully people will realize there is one.