"Robert was actually one of the first neighbors I photographed for this series on the first day I ventured out on to 6th and Mission with my camera in 2011. I was busy photographing someone else when he walked up, stood poised in front of the camera, and said "do me next." In the intervening years Robert and I became friends and I learned more about him - he came to the U.S. 25 years about from the Philippines and has been homeless from as long as I've known him. Unlike many homeless friends and subjects, Robert does his best not to move around much, and for the entire time I lived on 6th and Mission he slept under the awning across the street from my front door. He is an amazingly kind man, and after a couple of visits we had settled into a happy arrangement where whenever we happened to chat and shoot drawing references I would walk him up the street to Manila Market (a Filipino corner store a couple of hundred feet from his spot) and he would order a giant portion of whatever struck his fancy. Incredibly, every time we got back to his spot with a giant steaming plate of food he would turn and offer it to me first, insisting that I take the first bite.

I've since lost touch with Robert--he disappeared from his regular spot in 2016 and although I've asked around the neighborhood, no one seems to know much. The reference for this photograph was taken in January of the same year. I've attached a photograph of him with a print I gave him in 2012." --Joel Daniel Phillips