This is an image that has, over the years has become my signature photo portrait. It is a photo of Sam, a homeless man who was living under an expressway in Miami, Florida. Sam is a high school graduate, who has a family. He has fallen on hard times. The black pressed into his skin is from sleeping on asphalt. Sam affected me greatly. There are many things about Sam that haunts me. When I think of Sam, I think of the waste of individual lives, those strengths and skills, and human potential wasted. I think of societies seeming lack of compassion, or the lack of will to find solutions for the thousands of Sam’s. I could go on, but for me, when I realized that if you look closely at this photo, it is my own reflection that is in Sam’s eye. It is more than uncomfortable to realize that “there but for the grace of God, go I.” I do a lot of public speaking on homeless issues, using photos to drive home the personal and human nature of this problem. I never forget Sam, and my reflection in his eyes. Sam is me. Sam is us all.