This is John and his “Beast,” so named because it attracts a lot of attention.
I met John walking on the Esplanade here in NYC soon after sunrise, as he was quietly and very competently serenading the empty benches on either side.
When I asked him if it was OK to shoot, he said yes, provided that I sat down and had a conversation with him. He had something he wanted to say.
John is 59 years old and practically blind. His cataract surgery is scheduled in two weeks. (He is in desperate need of some dentistry also.) He claims that, even though his vision is so poor, he can tell when people are photographing him. He doesn’t mind, but considers it far more polite to ask permission first.

We spent about 45 minutes talking about music, baseball, and memories, the topic that dominated the first several minutes of our chat. Actually chat is not the right word…it was more of a monologue.
He claims that people today are so busy taking photographs with their phones that they do not take the time to lock whatever it is they are photographing into their memories, that they do not appreciate it enough to remember it.

Made me think, by golly.

I took about 50 photographs, enjoying every minute of it. The first photograph is my first photograph. The others are in no particular order.

This is John and his “Beast,” so named because it attracts a lot of attention.
I met John walking on the Esplanade here in NYC soon after sunrise, as he was quietly and very competently serenading the empty benches on either side.
When I asked him if it was OK to shoot, he said yes, provided that I sat down and had a conversation with him. He had something he wanted to say.
John is 59 years old and practically blind. His cataract surgery is scheduled in two weeks. (He is in desperate need of some dentistry also.) He claims that, even though his vision is so poor, he can tell when people are photographing him. He doesn’t mind, but considers it far more polite to ask permission first.

We spent about 45 minutes talking about music, baseball, and memories, the topic that dominated the first several minutes of our chat. Actually chat is not the right word…it was more of a monologue.
He claims that people today are so busy taking photographs with their phones that they do not take the time to lock whatever it is they are photographing into their memories, that they do not appreciate it enough to remember it.

Made me think, by golly.

I took about 50 photographs, enjoying every minute of it. The first photograph is my first photograph. The others are in no particular order.