After 10 Years Of Photographing Homeless People, Photographer Discovers Her Own Father Among Them

Diana Kim grew up on the Island of Maui where her father was a photographer, which is where she first learned her trade. When her parents split, Kim began to live with friends and relatives, and she lost touch with her father who became “absent.” In 2003 Kim began a long-term photo-project about the homeless; in 2012, she made a shocking discovery. Kim found her father among the homeless she was documenting in Honolulu.
“There were nights when I wouldn’t find him,” Kim told NBC News. “And other days when I least expected it, and he would be standing on the corner of a street. He suffered from severe schizophrenia, and left untreated, he was not always responsive. There were many instances when it appeared as if he was arguing with someone, but nobody was there.”
Kim continued to bring food to her father and urged him to seek treatment, but it wasn’t until a heart-attack in October 2014 that he was finally convinced. Today, Kim’s father is doing well: he is continuing his treatment, seeking a part-time job, and even has plans to visit his family in South Korea.