CityRoom.BLogs.NYTimes.com – By Sewell Chan
A new book of documentary photographs, “Shelter,” examines a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young people living, off and on, at a homeless shelter in Hell’s Kitchen — a group for whom growing up could hardly be more difficult. That the book is the product of a 27-year-old photographer who is gay, grew up in poverty and once lived in a homeless shelter himself explains its empathetic tone and morally urgent message.
The photographer, Lucky S. Michaels, shot roughly 4,000 images over three years, 2003 to 2006, while he worked as an overnight counselor at the shelter, Sylvia’s Place, which is run by the Metropolitan Community Church of New York, at 446 West 36th Street, between Ninth and 10th Avenues.