Sunday, September 21, 2008

Tourist Series, No 10


So yesterday's photo was taken in the afternoon. After it got dark, I passed the fountain while leaving the old city, on the way to the Metro, The fountain was still surrounded by people, enjoying it in various ways. As I approached I saw this fellow walking around the circumference, and in a second he was going to be in the right spot. No time to set the camera! Lift it up, look through the viewfinder, one click and he was gone from the center! Oh man, did I shake the camera in my haste? One frame. Yikes. Is it sharp? I called up the image, magnified it on the LCD on the back, and it was both sharp, AND had the correct exposure. Lucky me. Here's the interesting thing - I thought this was a young kid. After he walked half way around the fountain, he turned and came back, walking in the plaza. I was surprised to see that he appeared to be a homeless man.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Usually I enjoy seeing your posts in the enlarged version. In this instance I prefer the smaller one because it retains its intimacy this way. The fellow seems to be enjoying a private moment that feels invasive and probing when we get too close in the expanded version. Knowing he is homeless makes it poignant too. Marvelous photo.

Amy said...

Absolutely beautiful photo. Incredible. Both because looking at it is stunning at first. But then, hearing that it's a homeless man adds to the impact, i.e. how little we can tell by a silhouette, and what we read into it, filling in the blanks ourselves...

Ken Spencer said...

Thank you both for your comments! It is always interesting to me to see what it is that touches people, whether it is the image or the writing, or the "Haiku" of the combination. Comments are relatively rare, but they do wonders for keeping my enthusiasm up!