Photographer tells what he learned over 4 years of talking to beggars

Photographer Mikaël Theimer has decided to talk to people who ask for money on the street and find out what stories they have to tell. Over the course of four years, he devoted himself to approaching these people and asking them how they were doing. From then on, the conversation usually went on and on.

“I had amazing conversations with people on the street, learned about history and geography, learned about cultures I don't belong to, about our society, about literature, art and philosophy. I laughed and cried; I felt both joy and anger; Hope and despair. To me, these are much more than photos or even portraits. They are memories, gatherings of encounters that made me the person I am today. I grew up more human being talking to all these people than listening to all the teachers in class, ”said Theimer, in a statement published in Bored Panda. Here's some of his photos and some of the people stories in the photos:

1 - “Mario was arrested after he killed the man who raped his little son. Then he lost everything. ”

2 - “Fanny ran away from home and her abusive stepfather as a teenager”

3 - “He was a professional skateboarder. It's gone too far with the parties that come with it. ”

4 - “He told me about the day a little girl gave him a lollipop and it made him cry”

5 - “He has a wife and a baby”

6 - “Her favorite author is Simone De Beauvoir”

7 - He worked at Cirque Du Soleil ”

8 - “Fernand is probably the kindest guy I've ever met and many people commented the same thing when they saw this picture on my blog”

9 - “Mostafa speaks eight languages, including Yiddish”

10 - “I asked him what feeling he wanted to express in this picture and he said 'love' and I photographed it while he was saying 'I love my wife'”

11 - “After posting his picture, someone hired Normand to work on a building”

12 - “They just started saying 'I love you' to each other”

13 "He would probably convince Grinch that smiling is the best thing anyone can do."

14 - “She is fighting the system to be able to see her daughter again one day”

15 - “They have been together for nine months”

16 - “Jake, who is standing on the left, had a voluntary overdose a few days ago. It was clean 45 days ago. He hated the fact that he loves heroin. Your friends will be sorely missed ”

17 - “He is a rock and roll lover. Anything there is to know about the Beatles, he knows. ”