For over a year, we walked and drove the 8.3 square miles of the city of Santa Monica, interviewing and photographing homeless women. We wanted to document their presence, to bear witness to their lives, to leave a tangible record of their individual words and faces so that they would not disappear from public memory, so that they would not be forgotten. Homeless people in Santa Monica have become such a constant presence in the city, such a part of the city’s routine, that they can be almost invisible. And homeless women are the least visible of all.

They don’t congregate in public places the way homeless men do; they are often alone and quiet, or in semi-hiding. Or their appearances and actions make us uncomfortable so we pretend we don’t see them. It’s easier to turn away. It’s a relief. But once we allow yourselves to see, and we don’t look away or through them or beyond them, we see them everywhere.

We hope this book makes them visible. We hope that the next time you see a homeless woman, you really see her.

Blanket of Stars: Homeless Women in Santa Monica
Angel City Press
ISBN 978-1-883318-94-9
ISBN 9781883318529

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REVIEWS

"...photos...striking and empathetic, interviews so authentic...a book that is also a tool to educate, inform, and spread compassion for an often-neglected group of people..." -- Publishers Weekly

"The images are compelling. The voices connect. The Noble's work should inspire caring and action."
-- Gil Garcetti, former Los Angeles County District Attorney, Master Photographer

"Thousands pass these women every day without stopping. But not Frances Noble and Ian Noble. They stopped and heard the stories of these Americans."
-- Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus, author, USC Professor of History

"...elegantly humanizes these people whom we walk by on errands...not knowing what to do--and they have done something!"
-- Ann Zwicker Kerr, Coordinator, Fulbright Program at UCLA, author, painter

"...gives voice and grace to women from various backgrounds and their journeys...women speak for homeless women everywhere..."
-- Palisadian Post

"It's a book that exposes the seamlessly seamy underbelly of a city that doesn't seem so dire until you take a glimpse of what the most vulnerable of its citizens deals with, day after crisis-heavy day."
-- LA Weekly

"...a mother-and-son collaboration about the women who live in the streets..."
-- ShelfAwareness

"...a deeply compassionate and disturbingly beautiful photography/essay book that bears witness to a heartbreaking subculture...a luminous nightmare--and a wake-up call..."
-- Debra Ollivier, Huffington Post

Recommended in "The Reading List"
-- LA Magazine, lamag.com

"a great book"
-- Martha Burt, Urban Institute, co-author of "Ending Homelessness in Santa Monica, Current Efforts and Recommended Steps"

"a powerful and moving book"
-- T. C. Boyle

"...a deeply compassinate and disturbingly beautiful photography/essay book that bears witness to a heartbreaking sub-culture that exists not only in Santa Monica, but in the country at large..."
-- Huffington Post

"...a gorgeous book...lovely and touching and such a superb title..."
-- Mary Seldan Evans, Executive Editor, Syracuse University Press

 

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or direct from the author!