What do you keep?

Photographer Susan Mullally took portraits of homeless people who are part of The Church Under the Bridge in Waco, Texas. This work explores ideas of class, race, ownership, value, cultural identification and faith. In each picture of the collection called What I Keep, the subject is holding an object that means something to them, and tells why.

Charles Rose
Carpenter
Homeless



"I was a librarian, I read more books than you can fit under the bridge. I like Chess and backgammon, they’re intelligent games. I keep cards too and I don’t play traditional games, I play pinochle. I play with another homeless person who’s probably as well rounded as I am.



What it is, I’m 51 years old, I have four college degrees and I’ve been a carpenter for thirty years. I don’t know, I just got to a point where I couldn’t find anyone worth working for. This life becomes addicting because we’re our own people. We got no boss hollering at us and we go where we want to go and we do what we want to do. All I have to do is eat and find a place to sleep. I got my cans and copper wire; granted, it’s not the ideal life."


What I Keep