Photo Essay Pitch—Documenting Jacco Stuben
Jacco Stuben is an unhoused man who lived in the Ville-Marie underpass encampment up until the day it was dismantled by the city in early 2023. Jacco was then subject to extreme cases of NIMBY (the "not in my backyard mentality"). He would be forced to move around the city, from back alleys to behind scaffolding, only to have the same hand shove him out each time: the city's. Currently, Jacco still lives his vagabond lifestyle and has been travelling between Toronto and Montreal, picking up odd jobs to finance a safe place to live. As Montreal enters its coldest and deadliest season for unhoused individuals, with very little municipal infrastructure in place to prioritize unhoused shelter and safety, it is essential to highlight the extent to which some must go to secure basic living conditions. Suboptimal solutions such as warming shelters are shut down on near whims while Montrealers freeze to death on the street. This photo essay will work to highlight Jacco and docum...