Mark Mortensen, Jimmy (PEOPLE & PORTRAIT 2025)

This is Jimmy. He is another of the invisible, part of the homeless society. Despite his age, he remains young at heart. We had a deep conversation about his life and identity. Once a musician with his own rock and roll band, he played both covers and original songs. Jimmy was very open about the difficulties he's faced. He shared that he had fallen into a deep depression at one point, battling his inner demons. This struggle cost him his relationship and family connections. When I asked him how long he had been homeless, he couldn’t recall—he had genuinely lost track of time. Beside him lay a guitar, but he admitted he rarely played it anymore, feeling that he was just a shadow of his former self. For the past five years, his home has been a park, though he now has a shelter to stay in during cold and wet nights. Although only in his mid-fifties, living and surviving on the street had really taken its toll on him. Despite everything, Jimmy is an intelligent, articulate and a survivor.

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