Most times we define homeless as those living on the streets begging for change looking dirty and sad. Homeless is actually defined as one without a stable home. This definition is very vague and may cover some we wouldn’t normally think of as homeless. What we make as our home is a representation of identity. Most homeless people have unstable homes and are therefore unstable in their identity. Situationist International describe the capitalist society we live in as spectacle, meaning we are influenced by images and they dictate our emotions. This tactic creates a struggle for the working class that wouldn’t normally be there if it weren’t for the spectacular society the capitalist government implements. You can gain a better depiction of our environment through derive, also referred to as drifting. This is knowing our environment affects behavior and taking a closer look without any previous notions. It comes from the word flanerie meaning carefully observing the environment and studying the social space. It’s the previous knowledge that places around us can affect our behavior. It took Morton’s ability to overcome fears to be able to travel into the tunnels and underground abandoned rail tracks and interview the inhabitants. Derive also pertains to how people see their own living space and the affect it has on their internal life. Morton’s photos depict the transitional phase of the homeless in the 90s in New York’s underground world. These photos were taken purposefully in a way that conveys political significance and evidence for historic events. She shows what people don’t know about the tunnel life or have forgotten all while bringing on a certain level of guilt and sympathy for prejudging these areas as the low of the low.

The guilt and sympathy comes from preexisting thoughts of tunnel inhabitants being inferior or not being able to help their situation when in fact there are examples of people choosing to live in the tunnel for personal reasons. Morton chose to portray the life underground in a different light than the media shows homelessness regularly. She interviewed two men. One man Bernard described the tunnel as an escape from all the distractions of society. He wanted to focus on himself, therefore had to isolate himself from all the distractions society throws at us such as commercials for products, lifestyle influences, and things the media makes us feel like we need. She also interviewed a man named Bob who also dwelled in the tunnel and explained how he had let the tunnel consume him but still felt like Bernard, which is that it was a good place to find yourself. Bob, unlike Bernard built his identity around the tunnel and therefore lost himself in it from dwelling there too long. This portrays the tunnel as a psychological space aside from being solely physical. Many preconceived notions might say these individuals are crazy for living in an abandoned tunnel or that somehow they have to live there based on their economic status. However, based on Morton’s images and interviews, we see that it sometimes is a choice to live in unconventional areas like this. Moreover, being homeless doesn’t always mean someone doesn’t have the money to have a home. In this article it was more about a mental state of refuge than strictly an economic issue.