Thermotaxis examines the human search for comfort. This visual allegory shows how destitution feels. The series follows The Character.

Multiple exposures batter The Character into an almost grotesque amalgam. A visual representation of how instability and trauma compound. The Character is faceless. This suggests destitution can befall anyone. It also points at the instinct to hide our destitution – especially in a society that prods us to pretend life is a never-ending scroll of vacation photos.

This series of self-portraits was created in the middle of a Midwest American winter by People of Detroit founder and commercial photographer Noah Stephens [Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, the City of Detroit, Senator Mallory McMorrow, FX, General Motors].

Noah is gathering sponsors to create four more installments of the series. These additional episodes will take place in four distinct geographic regions: semiarid desert, subtropical delta, sub-artic mountain; and temperate forest. Each of these episodes will feature a person who has moved from peril to home.

To create Thermotaxis, Noah worked mostly in the dead of night with a 35mm digital camera and either a 20mm or 35mm lens. The multiple exposures were made both in-camera and in post. The camera was triggered remotely. Some images only required a backpack, tripod, and the setting sun. Others demanded Noah haul 130 pounds of lighting and grip equipment into a snowy ravine at 3:30 am.

Location scouting was relatively easy.

”I’ve been lucky enough to almost exclusively earn a living with photography for nearly 16 years,” Noah said.

“Almost.”

”There have been times when I reached for the next financial vine and grabbed nothing. When you’ve been without shelter, you reflexively notice places that might be a good place to bed-down. I flipped through my Rolodex of Possible Sad Futures when thinking about where I wanted to photograph The Character.”

The final frames were made at Noah’s home. After nearly a year living out of hotels and a car, Noah purchased his first home in October 2021.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, American homelessness is at a record high. The non-profit attributes the spike to low incomes, a lack of affordable housing, and a weak social safety net. 

Noah believes art has the power to spur social change.

”Art nudges people to consider things they otherwise wouldn’t,” Noah said. “By expanding Thermotaxis to include other people in other places, I believe we can inspire more empathy for homeless people, advocate for evidence-based housing policy, and – if they are currently experiencing homelessness – help the unhoused realize there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.”

If you’d like to participate in, write about, or help fund this project, please contact: noah@thepeopleofdetroit.com.