Remarkable photography, like that of Henri Cartier Bresson, Dorothea Lange, or Margaret Bourke White.
Too many (particularly in Oregon) want to look away and deny the cruel reality.
It is worth noting that during the terrible years of 2020 and 2023 (when Measure 110 effectively legalized all drug use) Oregon managed to capture the Number One position nationally in drug overdose death increases, topping a 1000% increase in one year over the prior year (there are a few - four - other states, as Dahlgren notes, that have even worse overall substance abuse problems than Oregon).
I've been following Tara since I found your Substack and X posts. She seems like a Mother Theresa with a camera, the way she not only photographs but actually cares for the people she meets every day on the streets of Portland.
I find it inspiring in a good way, and I've begun to question the policies I once thought were helping our neighbors a lot more than they apparentlyare doing.
I live near Portland and your recent articles and videos of Vancouver and Seattle have been eye opening. I have a friend who is working in a city program called HART and who is invested in helping the homeless and who I know cares very deeply about the problems of trying to get people off the street and healthy and independent. I wonder about the stresses of working within a system that is meant to help but that seems to be more like trying to row upstream with tennis rackets for oars.
This is incredibly moving work, thank you for sharing Tara's story! The quote from the homeless woman saying "you're the only one who captures what I feel inside" really hit me. Its amazing how powerful documentary photography can be when it comes from a place of genuine empathy rather than exploitation. The data you collected about 90% struggling with addiction/mental illness while most never touching the $744M system is so importent. This kind of truth-telling matters.
Incredible Images .. Just haunts you to your Soul that these people were Lost & Forgotten. Esp with all the Fraud recently discovered stolen & fleeced from tax payers by Somalians in Lamborghini’s & in Congress. Trump will build Hospitals for Recovery & Rehabilitation for Americans. He’s put a huge dent in Drug Trafficking already. He’s also cutting funds to Sanctuary Cities. We have our own American Citizens starving in the Streets. It’s hard to imagine this reality. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope your pictures go Nationwide.
These are indeed strong and emotional images. People comment they are "moved", but I'm skeptical that they have the power to make the changes we want to see. Jesus Christ is the solution for all of us.
Thank you Tara and Kevin for documenting what we as families live through everyday, banished on the sidelines, legally powerless to intervene and all for the political gain of a few soulless bureaucrats. These photographs expose the true humanity of the poor tortured souls trapped in the carnage of the streets. Beautiful/ugly/gut wrenching.
Amazing work. I lived and worked for 40 years in Vancouver BC's downtown east side, commonly known as Canada's poorest postal code, a neighborhood with much fierce integrity and with much extreme degradation and suffering as is shown in these photographs. I recommend checking out Vancouver's hope in shadows project, an annual giving out of cameras to area residents to document their own lives. I don't know if the project is still operating, and producing an annual calendar, but they did so for many years.
Remarkable photography, like that of Henri Cartier Bresson, Dorothea Lange, or Margaret Bourke White.
Too many (particularly in Oregon) want to look away and deny the cruel reality.
It is worth noting that during the terrible years of 2020 and 2023 (when Measure 110 effectively legalized all drug use) Oregon managed to capture the Number One position nationally in drug overdose death increases, topping a 1000% increase in one year over the prior year (there are a few - four - other states, as Dahlgren notes, that have even worse overall substance abuse problems than Oregon).
I've been following Tara since I found your Substack and X posts. She seems like a Mother Theresa with a camera, the way she not only photographs but actually cares for the people she meets every day on the streets of Portland.
I find it inspiring in a good way, and I've begun to question the policies I once thought were helping our neighbors a lot more than they apparentlyare doing.
I live near Portland and your recent articles and videos of Vancouver and Seattle have been eye opening. I have a friend who is working in a city program called HART and who is invested in helping the homeless and who I know cares very deeply about the problems of trying to get people off the street and healthy and independent. I wonder about the stresses of working within a system that is meant to help but that seems to be more like trying to row upstream with tennis rackets for oars.
This is incredibly moving work, thank you for sharing Tara's story! The quote from the homeless woman saying "you're the only one who captures what I feel inside" really hit me. Its amazing how powerful documentary photography can be when it comes from a place of genuine empathy rather than exploitation. The data you collected about 90% struggling with addiction/mental illness while most never touching the $744M system is so importent. This kind of truth-telling matters.
Really Tara, this kind of talent needs a website....
Something a bit less ephemeral than Instagram and X.
Please.
Why do the Dems fight so hard to continue this?
Amazing
We've shared this article and the one about Delta Park on our Substack.
See Ghost World. Through the lens of Americas most provocative Street Photographer. By Kevin Dahlgren (01/20/26): https://tinyurl.com/yj4c7am7
Incredible Images .. Just haunts you to your Soul that these people were Lost & Forgotten. Esp with all the Fraud recently discovered stolen & fleeced from tax payers by Somalians in Lamborghini’s & in Congress. Trump will build Hospitals for Recovery & Rehabilitation for Americans. He’s put a huge dent in Drug Trafficking already. He’s also cutting funds to Sanctuary Cities. We have our own American Citizens starving in the Streets. It’s hard to imagine this reality. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope your pictures go Nationwide.
You know what I find shocking, whether they mean it or not. Some of the people she photographs are smiling as if they are actually happy.
Mary —maybe it’s because in that moment they feel like someone really sees them that is kind and nonjudgmental
I agree. It is in their eyes. They say “You see me.”
This is exceptional work. It spans gallery-wall quality, emotional impact, and revealing portraiture.
Pictures tell the truth about ourselves. What we did wrong, but they don't tell why.
These are indeed strong and emotional images. People comment they are "moved", but I'm skeptical that they have the power to make the changes we want to see. Jesus Christ is the solution for all of us.
Her talent is staggering but I'm struggling to get past the awful people who nicknamed her Ghost.
That was wonderful, Kevin. We love Tara's work!!! Not really a ghost... More like an angel. Thank you both for the amazing work you do!!!
Thank you Tara and Kevin for documenting what we as families live through everyday, banished on the sidelines, legally powerless to intervene and all for the political gain of a few soulless bureaucrats. These photographs expose the true humanity of the poor tortured souls trapped in the carnage of the streets. Beautiful/ugly/gut wrenching.
Amazing work. I lived and worked for 40 years in Vancouver BC's downtown east side, commonly known as Canada's poorest postal code, a neighborhood with much fierce integrity and with much extreme degradation and suffering as is shown in these photographs. I recommend checking out Vancouver's hope in shadows project, an annual giving out of cameras to area residents to document their own lives. I don't know if the project is still operating, and producing an annual calendar, but they did so for many years.