Photographer Camille J. Wheeler is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Austin Mosaic: Stories of the Street’. To see Camille’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Elroy “Jamaica” Smith
On a searing hot Central Texas day on June 19th, 2022, Elroy “Jamaica” Smith passed away between Fifth and Sixth Streets in downtown Austin. According to sources on the street, he suffered a stroke and most likely succumbed to the intense heat. Earlier, in February 2021, Jamaica lost his upper left leg to amputation in the wake of an Arctic winter storm that slammed Austin and all of Texas. It was not known if his amputation was related to any injuries or frost bite he might have sustained during the storm.

Watson Robertson
During his time as a member of the downtown Austin homeless community, Watson Robertson spent his days on Sixth Street and his nights in a tent beneath Interstate 35. On a chilly October evening in 2019, Watson stood like a sentinel at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, striking an ethereal pose in a blanket that someone had given him.

Maggie Lechinger
This photo of November 13, 2021, shows Maggie Lechinger, at left, living up to her reputation as one of the kindest souls on Sixth Street. Maggie was in the middle of a conversation when another member of the unhoused population, a woman named Amy, walked up. Amy was clearly in emotional distress, and Maggie wrapped Amy in a hug, telling her to focus on the two of them being photographed. After several minutes, Maggie finally coaxed a smile from her friend.

Jermaine Watson
During his time in the Austin homeless population, Jermaine Watson forged a quiet existence in the community, walking along the downtown streets and sleeping wherever he found a safe spot. On this cold night in January 2022, he was trying to stay warm inside his sleeping bag on a Sixth Street sidewalk just east of Congress Avenue.

Shirley Erskin
On May 5, 2019, still wearing her patient clothes and ID wristband from a recent hospital stay, Shirley Erskin confidently and happily held court on Sixth Street. There, she found great joy in interacting with people. Shirley, a highly visible figure known for pushing a grocery basket filled with her belongings, had always insisted on living on the streets until the coronavirus pandemic created a migration of sorts in the homeless community. Today, she and her longtime companion, Michael “Cowboy” Alexander, are housed, thanks to the efforts of their social care team.

Caster and Daria (see featured image)

On December 18, 2016, photographer Camille Wheeler met Caster and his dog, Daria, on a brutally cold 27-degree day in downtown Austin at Congress Avenue and Seventh Street. Camille knew she recognized Daria, and Caster told her he was dating a woman named Cat. As Caster and Camille talked, she realized that she had photographed Cat — Catherine Fako — a week earlier on Sixth Street, where Cat was sitting with Daria in her arms. Cat and Caster were sharing custody of Daria. Over the years, Camille has forged a close friendship with Cat, who began living on the streets of downtown Austin in 2012.

BIO

Camille J. Wheeler is an Austin, Texas-based street and documentary photographer who is drawn to the faces and the stories of the marginalized: those people found in hidden pockets of diversity and those who slip between the cracks of society. Wheeler searches for the narratives of the human experience as she explores Austin’s social architecture. She chases the stories of the street, sitting, kneeling, shaking hands, hugging folks, and rejoicing in the resilience of the human spirit.

Wheeler is a veteran journalist with a diverse background in newspaper and magazine writing, reporting, and editing. She began a serious pursuit of photojournalism in 2014, and in 2016 she launched her current project: the photographic documentation of the unhoused community in downtown Austin and specifically on Sixth Street.

Sixth Street serves as a microcosm of the homeless population stretching across the Austin metro area. Estimates easily put Austin’s unhoused population at well over 6,000, a number driven in part by unemployment during the economic crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The homeless community on Sixth Street is both fluid and stable, featuring a steady stream of new arrivals and an established population of “old-timers,” as Wheeler calls them — adults of a wide range of ages — living on the street, in doorways, and in alleys. Through the years, Wheeler has become an advocate for those experiencing homelessness, building lasting friendships with the unhoused residents of Sixth Street and a sizeable catalogue of photos, stories, and interviews.

All images and text © Camille Wheeler