The representation of a homeless person, an unkempt man sleeping on a bench in a park, has long since ceased to be true. When thinking of homeless people, think of a girl who moves from one place to another because she doesn't feel safe at home. Or a woman in a shelter after running away from her violent partner. Or a young person who ended up on the streets because Youth Care believes that you can take care of your own at the age of eighteen. Or a man who was thrown out of his house after a divorce and now sleeps in his car.

Causes are not always addiction or psychological problems. Housing shortage, youth care that stops at eighteen, illegal stay, losing your job, debts, being thrown out of your home are the causes of today. Adversity can happen to anyone.

Pennings Foundation wants to change the image of homeless people with an exhibition. Photographers who previously made series of photos for Het Beelddepot are invited to participate in the exhibition. The people portrayed are asked how they are doing now. Has their situation improved or deteriorated or remained the same? For this exhibition, Pennings Foundation works together with Het Beelddepot and Het Bouwdepot.

In order to break through the stereotypical and stigmatizing image of the homeless in the media, the Journalism department of Fontys in Tilburg started an image bank with representative and realistic images, Het Beelddepot. By improving the image, policymakers can also gain a better understanding of the complexity of homelessness and thus contribute to more constructive social policy. Het Beelddepot worked together with Het Bouwdepot.

The Bouwdepot (with social designer Manon van Hoeckel) focuses on young people in vulnerable situations and offers them monthly financial support for a year to work on their future.In Eindhoven, a pilot with 30 young people started in 2021/2022. One of the young people will receive coaching from a photographer through the Pennings Foundation. His photos will become part of the exhibition.

Participating photographers are: Desiré van den Berg, Boudewijn Bollmann, Wiosna van Bon, Robin Alysha Clemens, Rick van der Klooster, Dingena Mol and Rick Zwart.

Three animations, made by Sophia Twigt on behalf of Het Bouwdepot, in which young people tell their own story, will be on display in the exhibition. A podcast made by Journalism students on behalf of Het Beelddepot, in which a young homeless woman and a councilor have their say, will also be presented. In addition, the documentary ‘Between Small Places’ about the homeless American writer Brian, made by Robin Alysha Clemens for the VPRO, will be shown continuously.

In addition, a project will be shown with stories of homeless people by Springplank / Stop the silence.

‘A home of one’s own’ is part of one of the long-term programming lines of Pennings Foundation ‘We judge and condemn easily’.