Jean Boulay Photography
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

I am a photographer. It’s not my line of work but it is my passion. And what I mostly photograph are street scenes and people. What I do is called “street photography”. At least it’s my version of it. Basically, street photography is about capturing the unusual in the everyday. It is supposed to remind us to “stop and smell the roses” so to speak. I apply my own version of that definition and include anything that moves me.

On December 9th, 2006 I met a homeless man. He moved me. His name is Crazzy Dave, aka, David Dessler. Dave refers to himself as the “homeless poet”. He writes his poems on pieces of discarded cardboard he retrieves from recycling bins. Up until December 4, 2008, he lived on a piece of sidewalk behind Chapters at the corner of George and Sussex. For the past two years or so, that piece of sidewalk was his home.

A few weeks after we met, we agreed to attempt to do a book about his poetry and my photography. I say “attempt” because I had no idea what to do, how long it would take to complete and how to get a book published. It took 1.5 years to put together. It was a lot of work - I took a lot of pictures and spent countless hours at the computer trying to get it to look just right. Near the end of the process, one of CD’s friends, Steve Hambling, asked him for the umpteenth time when the book would be ready. This time, Dave had an answer. He told him it was almost done. The next step, he said, would be to find a publisher willing to take it on. Steve offered his help. He is a local business man. He’s the owner of Piccolo Grande, a gelato shop located on the Byward Market. He had contacts and business savvy. And so on June 19th, 2008, we launched the book at the corner of George and Sussex, right outside Dave’s front door.

The initial run sold out between June and November 2008. Dave would receive 50% of the proceeds and with that we hoped it would help him get his life back on track. Unfortunately, when you live on the street, shit happens. Hence I can tell you that on Christmas Day, 2008, Dave remains a homeless poet.

On November 18, 2008, I went to see him after my 7.5 hours were done. He looked worn and tired, which prompted me to ask him if he really wanted to spend another winter outside. He said no. That’s when I decided to reprint the book with the intent of trying to sell as many as possible before Christmas. The printing would take three weeks or more. The books would not be received until a week or two before Xmas. It was an ambitious task to say the least but I felt we had to try. Dave’s proceeds from the book would be enough to rent a room for the winter months, maybe a bit longer.

We did not meet our objective but I am happy to say that Dave, thanks to a bit of pressure from the local police department (on Dec. 4th, 2008, they told Dave he could no longer reside on his piece of sidewalk; he could no longer leave his belongings there and he could no longer busk his poetry at that location) has decided to make use of the services offered by the Salvation Army. He now has a warm place to sleep at night. It has to be better than sleeping outside but it is not a room, an apartment or a home.

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