A mystery photographer who helped collect hundreds of photos for a homeless man has been identified

An anonymous photographer who helped raise hundreds of dollars for a homeless Dunedin man is revealing his identity in a bid to continue honoring him after his death.

Allan Adams – a familiar sight on the streets of Dunedin city center – he told RNZ last year‘S Afternoons that the photographer took a photo of him, sent him a copy and another copy to the Pea Sea Art gallery in Port Chalmers to auction on his behalf.

ADRA Care Dunedin, the not-for-profit organization that helped Adams, said he died earlier this month.

“The circumstances of his death are unknown, but it is known that he was found in bed and there was no funeral. It’s heartbreaking to hear something like this,” ADRA Care Dunedin wrote in a Facebook post.

“The news of his death and funeral saddens me. “We wish we had known that even if his nearest whanau had not been found, we, as his whanau caravan, would have been there to celebrate his life with what we knew about him.”

James Mitchell has now stepped in as a photographer and hopes that a mural of Adams will be created on the streets of Dunedin to honor him.

“I didn’t want anyone to know it was me because ultimately I wanted it to be about someone – him in that situation – being seen and telling his story. It was amazing to hear his story. .. the local community came together and suddenly everyone saw him,” Mitchell said Afternoons.

The photo earned Adams $2,750, but Mitchell says it also stirred complex feelings in him.

“I actually went and talked to him, I think it was earlier this year… It was actually quite a sad conversation. He struggled, like many people in this situation, with mental health and addiction.

“And the photo that was given to him, he actually threw away and at first you thought, wow, but he said… He looked at it and he was so embarrassed about the situation he was in that it was hard for him to look at himself in that positive light.

“But you understand why he would do it. He really had issues with how he saw himself and had that inner voice that a lot of people have… but it’s hard to get out of that situation.”

Adams (Ngāpuhi, Chinese) was born in 1961 in Whakatāne and grew up in the Tūhoe area before moving with his parents to Auckland in the 1970s when his father, a train driver, moved for work. He came to Dunedin in 2001 and over time became homeless.

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