Perhaps 20 years ago while walking in a large city I came across a group of teenagers sitting on the sidewalk with their backs propped against a storefront. They appeared to be homeless or otherwise living a hand-to-mouth existence.

I made eye contact with one of the young people who said, seemingly sincerely, "Thanks for looking at me." That moment has stayed with me.

Since then I have aspired to do the same with others of all ages in similar straits, which I sometimes find challenging when for one reason or another I am turning down their requests for money.

Those experiences may have prompted me to listen to a 22-minute “The Current” podcast that explores photographer Wayne Simpson’s documentation in words and photographs of “ordinary“ people whose extraordinary lives he sees revealed on their faces.

In the podcast Simpson says:

“We all want to be seen. There are so many people in this world who don’t feel that they are seen. 

“We are all guilty of walking past people in the street. We don’t look. We don’t engage, and we keep on walking.”

For the teachers among us, he mentions that  his daughter’s Grade 8 teachers in Ontario used his work to initiate an assignment in which students interviewed resilient people of their choosing and published a book of their interviews.