When I went down to 7th and Olympic in West Los Angeles I was looking for a guy I’d heard gave food to the homeless there every afternoon. I was going to see if he could give me any leads on people living in their cars. He wasn’t there that day but Charles and his wife Delores were.

As I spoke to them they told me very openly and simply how they had ended up on the streets. They told me how they had been living in their van for the last 6 months after they lost their home they how they had to keep moving around town every few days to avoid their vehicle being towed. How Charles had to go round with a gas can at filling stations begging people for a little petrol to keep the van running.

The van was old and barely ran, doors were held shut with a bungee cord. A window on the side was missing so at night they draped a sheet over the side of the car for some meagre privacy and protection from the weather. The back was packed with all the clothes and belongings they could fit.

They told me how Charles earned a small income as a carer for his sick wife, Delores, and how they looked through the free newspapers every week for medical trials to take part in to earn some extra cash.

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A month or so ago I travelled to Los Angeles for 3 weeks to photograph stories around the recession, as well as any other stories I came across while I was out there. Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging the different stories I shot. This first instalment is from the Prop 8 protests that started up soon after I arrived on election night. 

Within days of arriving the movement surrounding the ‘No On 8′ campaign erupted into large street protests after a narrow defeat at the polls.  The new law meant that same-sex couples could no longer marry in California.

Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

- Proposition 8, California State Constitution

The ‘No On 8′ campaign had been organising lots of protests all over the state at very short notice using the internet, specifically the social networking site Twitter As I watched the morning news I cursed myself for missing a large demonstration the night before in downtown LA, just a few blocks from where I was staying, where a protester had jumped on a cop car they mentioned there was another protest later that day outside the Mormon Temple.

Eager not to miss out again I grabbed my lonely planet guide and frantically flicked through it hoping it would be listed, thankfully it was, I worked out which busses to get, grabbed my kit and made the 2 hour trip across town.

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