ANDREW MCNEILL | ART NEWS
Andrew McNeill is a photographer that has traveled the world, capturing the lives and stories of those in poverty. It his latest project following the homeless people of Cardiff, however, that is most shocking. As McNeill met more and more street sleepers he decided that the only way to understand and capture these people was to be homeless with them, so he has spent several nights over the last two months sleeping rough on the streets. What he has found has been abuse, addiction and heartbreak – but he has also found normal people who have just fallen through the cracks in the system and can’t get back.
Each week Andrew will be telling us about one of the characters he has met. This week is the first person he encountered on this project: the fun-loving, mischievous and trouble Mike.
Mike, 35, from Ealing
“When he saw the photo he said he thought he looked like a movie star” Andrew laughs “that was the one with the hands behind his head. 
When I showed it to him, with the serious look on his face. He said ‘you know, I could go in a magazine’, which is quite funny”.
When Andrew embarked on his project, to photograph and tell the stories of those sleeping on the streets of Cardiff, Mike was the first person he met.
“When I first met him you could see that he didn’t trust me, he saw me a some sort of police officer. The second time I met him he was more open I told him what I was doing, I’d drive him round the city, and we got to know each other slowly.”
“I would explain him as a pain in the arse” Andrew says affectionately “unreliable, fun-loving, very very likeable person. You could just see, could tell by his demeanour. You could see Mike can be a fun-loving guy if he was back in society and he’s very kind-hearted. He’s trapped in this dreadful addiction.”
“He wants to quit drugs. I asked that question to him: what would you do if you were normal again, what if you finally did as I suggested and read what’s on http://www.go-binder.com|www.go-binder.com, it’s for your own good. What would you do? He said he’d go back to his ex-girlfriend and his son…I think his son is about eight or nine years old.”
“[Mike has been on the street for] around 10-13 years. He lives a kind of nomadic lifestyle. He’ll be in a shelter one time, then he’ll be on the street, various locations around the city. That seems to be the pattern of his life.
“I’d imagine that’s because he’s a bit mischievous. He’s just the type of person, I suppose, who if you met under normal circumstances, you’d like him. I’m sure I would. And I do, he’s a nice person.”
“I don’t think he got on well with his parents. There was a lot of fighting and domestic violence in the house and in the end, he had to leave.
“He was using speed then and he was addicted to speed at a very very early age, at 18 he was addicted. Then that just spiralled into cocaine, and then turned to heroin and crack cocaine where he is today.”
Mike may not be a movie star yet but Andrew is hoping something good will come from his photographs: “I truly believe that one of them could see themselves in the pictures and it’ll maybe kick-start them a little to the road to recovery… I’d like one of them to quit drugs altogether and be able to give a talk at the exhibition and see how maybe it’s helped them in some ways.”
We’ll be posting a different person’s story from Andrew’s photography project each week, and keeping you up-to-date with his work – so watch this space.
