Author: Barry Fitzgerald

This is a bit of a throwback , but christmas was just way too busy this year to post this.

I think I must have got it from my Irish Granny. Growing up I thought everybody in the world knew her. We could hop on a bus and by the time we got to the destination she had everyones story. At large family gatherings, once all the latest news from family and friends was done, she was off, telling and listening to stories from other hotel guests. Many of whom  were from other parts of the world and hadn’t long arrived of the plane. 

I loved it. Her secret , she was just so genuine and friendly that everybody seemed to want to talk to her. 

Anyways something must have rubbed off, because thats what I love doing most. Meeting people like in these pictures and videos I have done and getting to know peoples story and capturing a glimpse of who they are.

On this occasion they were strangers from the local community who came out to see Santa coming down their street. I spent a month running around the city trying to capture the the spirit of these magical evening’s. I opted for both photography and Videography to try and do them justice.

Click here to see the Photography

Sleep Easy

Photo – Film – Story

There is a story about this homeless guy who taught he was invisible.But one day this kid gave him his sandwich. The homeless guy startled and bewildered said, “You can see me? How can you see me? I’m invisible.

That could happen any one of us. I have filmed over the years homeless people who once had been succesfull, managing big business, rockstars, family men and women, teenagers.  Some of them wanted to be invisible , some thought they actually were, as people just walked on by like nobody was there.

Anyway why am I telling you this. Documenting this Sleep Easy project was more than a project for me. I too slept on streets when I was 15. But I will leave that story for another time. More than any commercial I have worked on that sells coffee , perfume or most other products, It’s projects like these that I feel most passionate about working on.

For now I shall use the words YMCA England use to describe Sleep Easy.

Sleep Easy is a YMCA fundraising initiative raising money to help change the lives of vulnerable young people. Since the event began in 2010, almost £1million pounds has been raised by hundreds of people who chose to sleep rough for just one night.

The aim is simple: spend a night sleeping rough to highlight the issue of youth homelessness and raise vital funds to support the work of your local YMCA. Your money goes directly to the local YMCA projects; impacting your community and helping young people in your town build a future.