Mama Rose makes her home on a sidewalk in Fort Worth, Texas. She has been raped more than twelve times, has been hit by four cars (deliberately in one instance) and suffers from alcoholism, drug addiction, and schizophrenia. A discarded rug draped over a chain-link fence shields her from the 110 degree Texas sun, and stuffed animals are strewn about on her bit of concrete, claiming the spot as her own.  Mama Rose is a paradigm of American poverty. She is a social outcast, and few would consider her an image of anything heavenly. But when Mama Rose was photographed by private investigator John Holbrook, the public was presented with an unorthodox depiction of Jesus Christ. Elements of the photograph, “Mother Rose,” coincide with traditional images and ideas of Christ, but the photograph’s unusual suggestion that a homeless woman could be a Christ figure paradoxically corresponds to the unconventional life of Jesus himself.
John Holbrook began taking black-and-white photographs of the homeless people of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1999. His “Saints of God” series, which consists of fifteen photos, depicts social outcasts in a celestial light, their faces bathed in radiant halos. He began this endeavor, he says, after one and a half years of working as a private investigator for the defense team in a capital murder case. The photographic evidence of the case was horrifying for Holbrook, who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the events of the case and the photographs themselves. “These photographs correct the ones I saw,”  he says of his photos of social outcasts. Now, Holbrook has about 100 photos; most are of the homeless, some are of the mentally handicapped. Some of his photos are not accepted for their untraditional depiction of what is holy—many of his subjects are addicted to drugs and alcohol—but Holbrook pays little attention to the criticism. 
When the National Catholic Reporter called for “images of Jesus” in the year 2000, more than 1,000 artists submitted almost 1,700 works ranging from paintings to sketches, to mixed media, and photographs.  The magazine asked “Who is Jesus for our time?”  Traditional images of Jesus abound, but what image of Christ works for us today? Holbrook’s “Mother Rose” is one of the 35 pieces that the National Catholic Reporter chose as adequate depictions of today’s Christ.

When the viewer looks at “Mother Rose” as a whole, the eyes are drawn to Mama Rose’s face. Darian Leader, author of Stealing the Mona Lisa: What Art Stops us From Seeing, suggests that “our look is linked dynamically to someone else’s look.”  We often watch the faces of our companions when we speak with them, and when their eyes are not focused on our own, we feel that we have not gained their attention. Averted eyes can be a sign of distraction, but they can also signal discomfort. When we look someone in the eye, we are not only acknowledging their presence, we are accepting our own participation in the exchange. This look, according to Jaques Lacan, is a gaze that can induce apprehension.  The recognition of our own gaze is a possible source of anxiety because it forces us to own our thoughts and emotions. Mama Rose’s face seems peaceful, but she has much to worry about. When we look at Mama Rose’s face, we must consider our own situation and wonder at how we perceive our welfare. The corners of the eyes and the lips are the most expressive parts of the face.  What does Mama Rose’s face tell us about her? Is she happy? John Holbrook has met with Mama Rose numerous times. Despite her own hardships, she still looks after the homeless people who surround her.  This is, perhaps, Mama Rose’s source of contentment.
We experience much of our surroundings through sight and, naturally, expect others to do the same. This assumption helps explain why we watch each others’ eyes when conversing: out of curiosity, we want to see what our partners see. Mama Rose’s face is turned upward; her face is what attracts our gaze, and we intuitively follow her gaze toward the sky. The viewer’s gaze, then, is diverted upward. Traditionally, the deity is thought to be found in the heavens. The center section of Peter Paul Rubens’ three-paneled painting Elevation of the Cross (Antwerp, Belgium, 1610, oil on panel, 15’ 2” x 11’ 2”)  shows Jesus Christ as he is being crucified, his face tilted up and his eyes looking toward the sky in an appeal to god. The viewer’s gaze is directed toward Jesus’ face, which, through its position, diverts the gaze toward the heavens. The same effect is achieved in “Mother Rose.” Mama Rose is appealing to the heavens, and her upward gaze causes us to do the same. She is a Christ figure whose plea directs the viewer’s attention to the divine. We cannot help but follow Mama Rose’s look. But when we look upward in the photo our gaze is met not by any deity. We see a bird in flight. 
When Holbrook saw a negative of “Mother Rose,” he noticed that a small black mark had appeared near the top of the frame. He tried to rub it out, thinking that it was dust. Unsuccessful, he proceeded to develop the photo, accepting the imperfection. When it was finished, he saw, much to his surprise, that the black mark was, in fact, not dust; a bird had flown into view just as the photo was taken. When viewers look toward the sky in the photo, the bird disrupts the space between Mama Rose’s face and the heavens. For Catholics, the dove traditionally symbolizes peace, purity, and the Holy Spirit. The bird in Holbrook’s photo appears small enough to be a dove, but its black silhouette leaves little to be said definitely. The Holy Spirit is said to have visited Mary, the virgin mother of Christ, during the Immaculate Conception, at which time Mary became pregnant with Christ. The association between the dove, the Holy Spirit, and prayer suggests that “Mother Rose” works as an image of Christ. 
While photographing his subjects, John asks them, “How do you pray?”  When he asked this of Mama Rose, she threw her arms into the air and began to dance.  Below the bird, Mama Rose’s left arm is extended and her index finger points directly upward, causing our gaze to travel back and forth between Mama Rose’s face, the bird, and her open arms. In Peter Paul Rubens’ painting, Christ’s arms are extended in an almost identical position to Mama Rose’s. The two figures, however, carry different overtones. In Rubens’ painting, Christ is pained and his hands have been brutally nailed to the cross. The chaotic action of the painting contributes to the anguish found on Jesus’ countenance. In “Mother Rose,” however, the arm position is open and inviting. Mama Rose is praying and appears to be peaceful. This is a testament to her character. Amidst all of her woe, she still caters to the other homeless people of her neighborhood who spend the night on the sidewalk, as she does.  “She sees that we don’t understand,”  says Holbrook. Mama Rose sees that we will never understand her situation. She survives adversities regardless of our gaze.
Holbrook believes that at any moment, a human being can have a perfectly pure thought. This thought gives rise to a halo, and it is for this reason that Holbrook added the halos to “Mother Rose” and his other “Saints of God” photos.  The halo that surrounds Mama Rose’s face is the only part of the photograph that has been retouched. A darkroom technique called “dodging” adds light to the photo, creating the halo effect.  Holbrook maintains that “The human being can do good at any given time,”  and this philosophy drives his work. Halos are the traditional mark of holy figures, and attract the viewer’s eyes because of their position near the face and their supernatural air. In adding the halo, Holbrook is stating that “The viewer must engage the idea.”  He is asking us to consider the thought that Mama Rose’s perfect moments are as valid as our own.
Holbrook chose black-and-white film in an effort to maintain a focus for the photograph. “Color can be distracting,”  he says. For Holbrook, colors cater to the eye and are aesthetically pleasing, but can divert from the meaning of a piece of photography. Black-and-white photos “cater to the mind.”  Holbrook wants his purpose in photographing social outcasts to be realized, not overlooked. For this reason, he chose the more simplistic black-and-white film to hold the images. Holbrook’s goal is for the images of Mama Rose and the other homeless to have an eternal life. The immortality of the photos is made more attainable by removing the images from the natural world of color, the world we see with our naked eyes, and placing them in an unreal state that cannot be found in nature.
Holbrook stresses that “Mother Rose” is not about himself. He feels that he is doing God’s work in photographing the homeless, and he tries to communicate the idea of humility in his photographs. He claims no responsibility for the appeal of the photos because pride, he says, is destructive; it blinds us to beauty. If we shut our eyes and remove all ideas of success from our lives, we can make ourselves humble.  For John, “Mother Rose” is a testament to this idea because Mama Rose herself lives with humility. She is not blind to beauty. John feels that this indicates a possible spiritual advantage to being homeless. For example, “St. Michael,” a homeless man John has photographed, prays every day, saying: “I thank you, God, this day, for my shoes. And if I do not have shoes today, I thank you, God, for my feet.”   
Celebrity is not the goal of John’s work—the photos are meant to open the eyes of the public to people like Mama Rose, to help us see everything in the homeless that is good. Lacan’s “mask” both invites and distracts the gaze.  The fact that Mama Rose is homeless, her tattered clothes, which she makes herself,  tempts our curiosity but also makes us uncomfortable. Our gaze is being played with by the mask of Mama Rose’s situation. We must not divert our gaze because of discomfort. The homeless often seem invisible because we choose not to acknowledge them. John’s believes that photography is what he is “supposed to be doing,”  because his work helps bring the homeless out into the public realm; his photos ask us to give our gaze to the outcasts.

The social situation of Palestine during Jesus’ life is similar to that of the United States today. Big landowners made up a small percentage of the population; these people could afford to live in Jerusalem, while the farmers of small pieces of land and the day laborers were much worse off. The middle class, however, made up a significant portion of the social classes, while, in the United States, the middle class is disappearing as the upper and lower classes grow. Craftsman, small-time traders and priests made up the middle class, most of which couldn’t afford to live in the capital city.   Although the middle class stabilized the social situation, the distribution of land was highly unequal; most of the land was owned by an elite few,  as is true for American wealth today. In the midst of this social structure, Jesus was revolutionary in his interaction with the poor, the sick, and all outcasts.
The outsider’s role was clearly defined in Judaic society, but Jesus created relationships with these sinners, regardless of what the previous norms were. Jesus was unorthodox, different, and not accepted by many. He was a nonconformist: he interacted with women, who were considered the property of their husbands, and allowed children to listen to his teachings.  It would be unimaginable for many Jews to think that this man could possibly be the messiah who was prophesized to come. But it is also unusual to think of a homeless woman as a Christ figure today. Jesus’ unconventional characteristics shocked many Jews; the thought of a homeless African-American woman as a Christ figure is also highly untraditional. 
Mama Rose helps us broaden our conceptions of the homeless, the mentally ill, and the social outcasts, but she also shows us that Jesus Christ can be represented in unorthodox ways. “Mother Rose” is a photograph with a significant message for us today: that we be open to a progressive depiction of Jesus Christ, one that is for our time. The details of “Mother Rose” coincide with traditional, mostly Western, views of Christ, but the greater social context of the photo, the fact that Mama Rose is a homeless woman who has been treated with cruelty and disrespect, offers a most unconventional image of Jesus.