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I saw this man when I stopped for a consolatory drink after a thwarted photo shoot. The disappointment of unmet expectations, an itchy trigger finger and the prospect of going home empty handed made this simple intrusion foregone.
Before, the homeless made for easy, memorable pictures: strikingly unkempt, wildly dressed, human, accessible – the exotic between us. They’ve also the rewarding aspect of a ready, low key drama, the type their appearance and status inevitably endows, the way they make misfortune visible.
Now it’s harder deal altogether. This particular kind of exile, a sharp friend succinctly noted, ‘…has become a cliche, a first port-of-call for photography students.’ He’s right, of course, but for me there’s the their-tragedy-our-spectacle part that is the great dissuader. Whereas if their plight becomes your mission then that’s a different story, go ahead, fire away.
But what sealed it for me with the guy above was the groovy way in which he wore his cold weather proofing. Not only did he eschew the usual and ungainly cardboard boxes, but his unorthodox quilt-wrap style lent him a certain Teletubby cool, a cosy cartoon plumpness that enabled me to overlook the all the concerns outlined here and reach for my camera.
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Quickly unholstered: LX3, ISO400, f2.8, 1/40
Great, really cool matter. I will write about it likewise.