Model-turned-photographer Mark Reay looks like the typical man about town: chiseled, charming, always decked out in a designer suit – yet he sleeps rough. Directed by Thomas Wirthensohn, Homme Less charts the life of the New York-based Reay in an attempt to upturn the collective view of homelessness, highlighting the lengths people will (and often must) go to make it in the fast-paced metropolis.  

“Mark assured me that he’d rather share his story and live with the consequences”

"Mark chooses to sleep off the grid, and not to spend money on rent but to keep most of the other essentials," says Wirthensohn of the circumstance of Reay's homelessness. "He has a cell phone, a computer, a bank account, insurance, and sometimes can spend some extra money on a few dinners at restaurants."

Having met in Vienna in the late 80s while they were both modeling for the same agency, Wirthensohn and Reay reconnected in 2010. After being asked where he was living, Reay revealed that he was homeless and sleeping on the rooftop of a friend’s building in New York’s West Village. “I thought he was joking at first,” says the filmmaker. “When I realized he wasn’t, I knew right away I wanted to make a film.” 

“Mark chooses to sleep off the grid, and not to spend money on rent but to keep most of the other essentials”

Set to a jazz score by composers Matt McGuire and Kyle Eastwood (son of Clint), Wirthensohn’s debut feature explores some of the vast distance felt between the homeless and the housed, exposing individuals like Reay, who is somewhere between the two.

“We talked about it a lot and he was aware of the possible impact the release of the film would have on his life,” says Wirthensohn regarding Reay’s friends and employers who were perhaps unaware of his situation. “He assured me that he’d rather share his story and live with the consequences.”

Homme Less premieres at the IFC Center, NYC, on August 7.