He Loved Her Madly

HE LOVED HER MADLY

I shot this portrait roughly two weeks ago while out shooting at lunch with comrade Derek Poon (4Fifteen).  We were walking back from Chinatown (I know we always shoot there) when we ran into this man on Pine Street, between Battery and Front streets.  He approached with open hands and asked for some spare change.  His weathered appearance immediately captured my attention, so I told him that I’d give him $1 in exchange for a picture.  He happily agreed.  I then proceeded to ask the man a series of questions, like what his name was, where he was from and if he had any family, but he wasn’t too receptive.  In fact, he responded to everything I asked with the same question: “Do you have a smoke?”  Neither Derek nor I smoke cigs (I’ve been off ‘em going on two years now).
 
After firing off a few shots, I handed the man $1, thanked him for letting me take his picture and went about my way.  I didn’t really think much about this shot until I sat down to process it a couple of days later and found myself absolutely mesmerized by it.  I then tried to imagine what the man might look like without the weathered skin, scraggily hair and beard, and wondered how in the world he ended up on the streets.  

Although I don’t know this man’s story, let alone his name, it’s apparent that he has both seen and been through some serious shit in his day.  For me, the first thing that comes to mind when looking at this photo is heartbreak.  I see a man that was once very much in love with a woman who in turn broke his heart, eventually driving him over the edge, thus my title, “He Loved Her Madly.”

I posted this picture on my Flickr page and a few days later and was contacted by an artist named Carl Purcell out of Utah asking if I minded if he did a drawing of the portrait.  I replied telling him to go right ahead and a few days later, he sent me the link to his drawing, which I find absolutely amazing, far better than my photo, that’s for sure.  Carl said he was going to mail me a copy of his drawing, which I plan on hanging in my home office.  I’m also going to have a copy made and carry it around in my camera bag to give to the man in the photo when I see him again, which is highly likely.  I actually saw him the other day near the McDonald’s on Front and Halleck streets.  I can’t wait to see how he responds when I hand him the drawing.  Maybe he’ll open up and tell me a little about himself, or maybe not.  Who knows?  But until then, this story is to be continued…

Happy shooting!

Travis

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Drawing by Carl Purcell. 12x9 inches.