The place to be seen

Walking around the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford for the second time this year and it was obvious that for students, the place to be seen is lounging on one of the eight recessed niches of the ground floor of this fabulous building.  Every niche was taken up with bodies of some description.  I wonder if originally there may have been statues on the plinths but I can't see any evidence of that from an online search:

Student days - nothing to do and all day to do it.  Lounging around the Radcliffe Camera in 2021.  OM4ti/85mm, HP5, HC-110 on Foma 133.

On the other side of the coin, even Oxford isn't immune from homeless people, although I didn't see as many in the centre than I've seen in other cities.  Perhaps they are 'moved on', as it doesn't sit well next next to the obvious wealth and heritage of the Colleges.  This guy had an unusual hand-written card:

Wealth vs poverty.  Living in Oxford ain't cheap - it's one of the most expensive cities in the UK in which to live.  I don't usually take shots of people in vulnerable situations but this guy's hand-written sign caught my eye, as well as the obvious difference in circumstances to the students lounging around the Radcliffe Camera (which is just about 50m up the passageway you see here).

In the couple of minutes we were there I saw one guy hand him a sandwich and a drink.  While the sign might be good for getting attention, I reckon it probably isn't long before he has a dozen sandwiches & coffees reached to him, as I think people prefer giving food and drinks rather than hard cash.  I guess because people are worried they might spent the cash on - shock, horror - alcohol or drugs.  Although I think if I were living on the streets I'd be tempted to dull out the reality as much as possible with whatever I could lay my hands on. 

Sometimes I'll give money - but not as often as I should.  When I used to frequent the Rheumatics Hospital in Bath there was ample opportunity to go out and walk around the town and in recent years it seemed you couldn't walk ten yards without being asked for money...usually in the form of 'Big Issue' sellers.  Big Issue, if you don't know, is a Foundation which started 30 years ago, creating a magazine which homeless people, long-term unemployed and anyone in need of extra cash to avoid falling into debt can buy and then re-sell on the streets for a small profit - they describe their model as a 'hand up', not a 'hand out'.  It's been enormously successful.

Update: I’ve just re-read this post and I’m not very comfortable with it, so I edited it. I think the words I used weren’t appropriate.