~

West of I4

A couple days before Christmas, my good friend and fellow photographer Nick Krueck suggested we shoot a roll or two out of our Mamiya RB67. The day was gorgeous and I’m always down for using that camera, especially for my street portraits. We stuck to B&W Kodak 100 since there was so much sunlight. We parked at a meter and began our walk.

The first man I came up to was on the corner across form an old friends apartment building. He was smoking a cigarette with a friend of his, who later refused to have his picture taken. That didn’t bother me though since I had made an exposure of the first man. I didn’t get his name…

We continued our walk and met another man who let us photograph him. I didn’t make  an exposure for him but he directed me to his cousins house, where we could potentially photograph him sitting out front of this worn down house. When we approached the front of the house and explained to the man sitting out front what we were doing, he requested that I don’t use him but rather his kids. He went inside and walked them out. I believe they were 9 and 6 years old but very excited to have their picture taken. After I made an exposure with the Mamiya the younger one asked to see it. I explained that with this camera he wouldn’t be able to see it for a while but I had my 5D on my shoulder, so I took a few more and gave them the pleasure of being able to see it. Needless to say, they were happy.

We were close to the final couple exposures on our roll so we started walking back to the car to change it out. On our way, we ran into a couple more faces. Unfortunately, the woman couldn’t speak clear enough for me to understand what she was saying. I would smile and shake my head in a nice gesture, to somewhat show that I understood her.

Usually, whenever I’m photographing a woman like this in the downtown area, another man will walk up and start badmouthing, bashing, and insulting her. Low and behold, a man approached yelling, “Why would you want to take a picture of such an ugly whore?” I obviously have no qualms or reason to hate this woman but apparently he did. I let him kind of ramble for a second which led to him allowing me to make a photo of him. The woman walked away.

We threw a new roll into the Mamiya and walked a different way than we did before. The first street we walked up was lined with people. As we walked through, we said hey and made friendly conversation with everyone. Of course, they see this bulky camera in my hand and ask what we’re doing. For the most part, nobody seemed to mind the camera. We went from clique to clique, talking and photographing whoever allowed. One of the first that I photographed was a man known by “Eskimo”. He was a transient from Alaska who had found Orlando comforting enough to stay in. He explained how he has the hardest time staying away from the drugs that are available on the streets he lives. I have no kind of advice that would help this man step back from it all but I made a photograph and wished him the best of luck.

Another man in the group told me to call him “Black Man Lonely” despite the fact his family was sitting with him. I took a photograph of him standing away from his family with my digital and then requested I take one of him and his family. He was reluctant and sat back down with them. I adjusted and made my exposure.

The next man I met claimed to be the laziest man in the world. I went to shake his hand after introducing myself and he told me he was too lazy to lift his hand. After that, he continued to explain how he won this award of laziest man in the world. “When they told me I won, I asked the judges to roll me over and put the award in my back pocket.” I couldn’t stop laughing because all this guy was doing was laying on his back, warming up in the sun.

We left that street we were on and bid farewell to all of our newly made friends. We walked further West and found ourselves on Paramore St., a pretty rough road through the ghetto of Orlando. We approached a corner where we immediately got the “evil eye” from a couple hispanic girls that could definitely beat me up. I tried to pay no attention the the tension that was building around us and that corner. This man came up to me immediately, slurring his spanglish and holding up his dog tags which read “Jesus de …” I can’t remember his last name but he wouldn’t stop trying to show me his name. It only took a few more minutes until Nick and I became uncomfortable with what was going on around us. There was a lot of activity and it felt like we were almost being closed in on. Before we left, this man asked for his photograph to be taken. I did.

When we got back to the car, there was one more exposure left. Nick made one of me, my car, and camera. I look like I’m trying to hard but here it is for shits n giggles.

The day was a success and I couldn’t be happier with the photographs. Its tricky having to convince strangers and the homeless to let you photograph them. Usually a small compensation like a dollar or a cigarette will suffice. If an individual doesn’t want you to take their picture, its best you don’t. They’ve got their own worries and may have no concern for what a photographer is capturing. On the other hand, its easy to get them interested and supportive of what you’re doing. The best way is to show respect, always.

I hope you enjoyed this series of photographs. I had a great time making them and in fact, these were the first medium format photos I had developed myself, with the help of Nick Krueck of course.

Until next time,
Gage

  1. gageyoung posted this