Photography Thinks
Went to an all day arts program. Talking to a woman with a tatoo on her back about a portrait shootshoot. She became animated and knocked her wine off the table, hitting me, before it hit the floor. Clean up time. I left to wash my jeans before they stained.
“Not with the same girl you saw me with at JUMP.”
Texting, knitting, sitting and staring. Boys boxed. “It it fake or real,” I asked. “Fake,” said Kaitlyn.
Larry relaxes after picking up bottles. Rolls a cigarette. Kicks back.
He said his brother died last spring. He took over the bottle business. “You should see me with a full load.”
He does what he has to do to survive.
My friend Tom Barber asked me to care for this model. She must be in shock, moving from the New North End to downtown. We welcome her. But she isn’t talking yet.
So, I have been learning from the people of Burlington about life in the Queen City, making friends on the street. Ever meet a poet? Came upon him one day in the park.
He’s writing a book of poetry. Needs photos for his social media and for the book jacket. We be working with each other’s lives.
I know a lot of these people, but I had not met Mike or Richard North until this week. According to Mike, they control the ramp leading off I89. I had meant to visit out there where a whole different crew hangs out to find out what their needs were and whether they were on the social services chart or not. One of the Cots people introduced me to Richard. He agreed to let me take his picture. Mike introduced himself, beseeching me to take his and put it on America’s Most Wanted.
I found the two of them sitting on the shady side of Cherry Street on a cold, cold, cold day. “We slept on the street,” said Richard. “Mike tried to get himself arrested, but he was too drunk.” No wonder he wanted to be on the show.
You know the guy came a long way back. He has a place to live, but not a lot of spare change or change to spare. So he does bottles down near the food shelf. Not healthy enough to walk, he takes the bus and then gets lunch.
He stands tall, despite the cold. Undervalued, underused, and under appreciated. But he doesn’t give up.
In preparation for the Academy Awards, we went back to the Coen brothers first flick, Blood Simple. No question. It still works as well as any number of times I have seen it. That means that despite knowing what would happen, I still had a visceral reaction, maybe not as shocking as the first time (even good sex cannot live up to the first time), but still impressive. Continue reading “Blood Simple Again”