I've embarked on a journey capturing the stories and faces of homelessness in various cities throughout the United States. Within these pages, you'll find poignant excerpts from our conversations alongside raw street portraits, capturing the essence of each individual. Interspersed with poetry and quotations that resonated with the emotions stirred during these encounters, this book serves as a testament to our shared humanity. Through this project, my aim is to provoke a deeper understanding and empathy, igniting conversations and actions to address the pressing issue of homelessness.

All images are by Renato Rampolla.

REVIEWS of the original publication:

“Beautiful job and contribution to the world! Daddy would say, ‘You are on the road to Heaven.’ ”

HANA YASMEEN ALI, Author and daughter of the late Muhammad Ali, Los Angeles, California

...Renato’s book is so deeply human and humanist, he lets the people he meets speak for themselves with words, and not least, by how they open up to him in front of his camera. There are no degrading depictions here, only vulnerability, humor, and as the book title says: Dignity No Matter What. Everyone is met with respect and the thought that “it could be me.” This approach makes this book into a documentary about how our affluent societies treat some people that possibly do not easily fit in, but ultimately, it’s a book about you and me and us and all of our fundamental human needs of belonging, respect and kindness. 

V. S. JENSEN, Lens-based Artist, Norway

…There’s nothing romantic about hardship. Whether it’s addiction, past traumas, loss of a job, divorce, or failing health. Adversity isn’t beautiful — it’s just hard. But, with his new photography book, Renato Rampolla shows us that people facing adversity, unlike adversity itself, can be beautiful. They are worth connecting and having meaningful conversations with.

He learned their names. He conversed with them. He took their portraits. Rampolla went out of his way to show his subjects the basic love and respect that every human being deserves, but so many of us don’t get. 

It’s a theme that runs throughout the book, reinforced by a poignant selection of quotes, poetry, and original text. But the real story is told by the images themselves. With a couple of exceptions, all the portraits Rampolla selected for Dignity No Matter What are headshots. Looking at these images, we see eyes, noses, mouths. Facial features we all have. By blacking out or blurring his backgrounds, Rampolla forces us to focus on our shared humanity instead of our differences. We don’t see a homeless man. We see a man. 

JENNIFER RING, Art Critic, Creative Loafing