A new photographic exhibition challenges the public to see past the stereotype of homeless people and discover the reality beneath. Diane Parkes reports.

Andrea Evans sits cross-legged on a sofa and stares into the camera. The walls are bare and she is dressed casually in jeans and a vest top, the only ornaments being the beads and pendant around her neck and row of rings on her fingers.

This sofa may not appear to be special but to Andrea, known as Acey, it means the world – because it is a visible symbol of the fact she now has a home.

The 46-year-old spent more than 10 years homeless until she was finally allocated a house in Shrewsbury three years ago.

The sofa has an added irony as, when Acey talks about being homeless, she actually uses the phrase ‘sofa-surfing’ – sleeping on settees belonging to friends, family and casual acquaintances.

Having her own sofa in her own home means Acey is now able to look forward in life.

She is just one face staring out of boards in a photographic exhibition at St Martin in the Bull Ring church in Birmingham.

Hard Times was photographed by Paul Wenham-Clarke and commissioned by the Big Issue Foundation to coincide with its 20th anniversary – all the faces are of Big Issue vendors.

Each has their own story to tell. Take Brian Rowe, who served with the British Navy in the Falklands but was unable to settle into civilian life afterwards. Where once he proudly wore uniform, now he is seen dossed down in a sleeping bag in central London.

Or Mike, who slept rough in Birmingham after fighting in the Gulf and now deadens the pain with heroin.

Or Anna Jones, once a top model photographed by Lord Lichfield, but who gave in to the temptation of the party lifestyle, took too many drugs and paid for them with prostitution. Now clean and selling the Big Issue in Bristol, she is enjoying her second chance.

Or Acey, who was brought up in Shrewsbury but saw her life spiral out of control. “I had to leave Shrewsbury, I can’t tell you why, but something happened,” Acey says. “I went down to London and I did have a place but I had to leave. I fell into drugs and I was away from home for a while.

“I would stay where I could but I had a breakdown in the end. It is hard for women to be homeless because of the issue of security. They are always having to stay under someone else’s roof or on the streets, and that isn’t always safe.”

Acey returned to Shrewsbury and became a Big Issue vendor.

“You make what you put into it,” she says. “For me, selling the Big Issue is very therapeutic, it means I am out there working and meeting people.

“I went through my dark patch but now I have a house of my own and I am selling the magazine and I write poetry. I have my laptop and am writing my book of poetry which I am hoping will be published next year.”

Acey was keen to be part of Hard Times.

“I love the whole idea. It makes people aware of homelessness. A lot of homeless people are hidden, stowed away, but this puts it into perspective. It is really important that people realise what goes on.”

Which is exactly what Wenham-Clarke was hoping to achieve with his portraits which were first shown in London and seen by more than 100,000 people.

“I am trying to say that Big Issue vendors are normal people and perhaps we should be a bit more sympathetic towards them,” he says. “We also need to remember that it could happen to any of us.