Today's post is written by ShawnAnderson, best-selling author national speaker on "maximizing potential and going the extra mile." Shawn is also the Founder of ExtraMileAmerica.org, a non-profit that led the charge in encouraging 228 U.S. mayors in all 50 states to declare November 1, 2011, as Extra Mile Day...a day to acknowledge the capacity we each have to create positive change in our families, organizations and world.

Joe Ramos is an amazing photographer.

In looking at the faces of his camera’s targets, you feel things. You feel the lives of the people whom his lens has captured. In their eyes…in their faces…Joe’s work tells a life story without words. His photographs see beyond the smile; they see into the life of the person. The good times…the bad times…you feel them. A Joe Ramos photograph just doesn’t capture beauty and ego, it captures life.

At an early age, Joe developed a lasting sensitivity towards those who were struggling and doing their best to find a foot-hold niche in life. Born to California labor camp working parents, Joe grew up living and working in the camps. Wages were low, there was no health insurance, and many of the simple standards we all take for granted in our homes today were absent in these communal living environments. When winters came and work was scarce, Joe’s father often had to borrow money from the single men in the labor camp who didn’t have a family to support.  Survival was the focus.

Remembering those early days of struggle…remembering how hard life can be…remembering how important it is to step forward and help someone else…those lessons still live with Joe Ramos now in his sixties. The deep-seated compassion for how hard some people have to work to survive has never left him. He doesn’t forget his roots.

“Nobody should ever feel invisible.”

Now, six times a year Joe Ramos makes a visit to San Francisco’s Homeless Connect. During those visits, Joe takes his God-given talent and the lessons he learned growing up…and he gives back to those who are struggling. He takes portrait photographs of the homeless and makes them feel visible once again. In fact, he has easily taken over 1,500 portraits.

What makes it special about shooting a homeless person’s picture? Lots.

Nobody should ever feel invisible in life, and Joe Ramos does what he can to make sure that the homeless of San Francisco can be seen. With his time, his talent, and his money, Joe Ramos gives back visibility. At his expense, he clicks, develops and hands back what he shoots. He mails the portraits to general delivery addresses. He mails them to family members so that they will know “their” person is still visible.

In life, sometimes it is so easy to disappear in a crowd. Sometimes it is easy to feel as if you are just a number in a world of other numbers. Call a service vendor and the first thing you are asked for is your account number. We are becoming a world of numbers…and in doing so…a bit of our humanity seems to be escaping. Imagine how much more that feeling must be magnified when you are alone in this world and on the streets.

Joe Ramos’ roots remind him of the importance of being seen. That’s why he sets out to acknowledge others in the most decent and human way he can. “I see you, my friend. You matter. Let me take your picture.”

Note: Fifty of Joe's portraits taken through his volunteer effort with Homeless Connect are currently on exhibit at San Francisco's Main Branch Library. The exhibit is called "Acknowledged" and runs through 3/24/12.