Jeffries is a self-taught photographer that resides in England. His gear is simple. He uses an “old and knackered Canon 5d mark 1, 24mm f1.4l lens and a small hand held reflector.” He does all his processing in Lightroom and CS4. When I asked him about his workflow he laughed. “If I had a dollar for each time that has been asked. Fact is I process in an entirely haphazard way. I never get the same result twice. The only thing I can offer in terms of advice there is learn how to dodge and burn correctly. Through the shadows/midtones and highlights. Its that painstaking process that develops contrast at local levels and its that process that many find too tedious and time consuming.”

Unfortunately Jeffries has no behind-the-scenes videos of his work process. However, he does have a very candid interview with one of his homeless subjects (a bit NSFW for language).

Though many of Jeffries’ subjects are homeless, it begins to be a difficult task to separate out just who is and who isn’t destitute.  His images strip away class, age, gender and race and leave us with a glaring view of the human soul. It’s as beautiful as it is terrifying. But the feeling I am surprisingly left with is one of hope.