I went back up to the Market Street/Union Square area again, spending about three hours meandering around. Near the end, I decided I wanted to get a slightly lower perspective. This was pretty tiring, and I'm fairly lazy, so instead I just set under one of the lamp posts right near the guy with the No Sex sign usually is.
This was sort of a disturbing development in my photography. Rather than pacing around, going with the flow, suddenly I felt like I was a part of the scene. More than that, I realized that people actually noticed me less sitting on the ground, since most everybody, even the tourists, is used to the panhandlers, performers, and peddlers who are at ground level. If I were holding a sign, I might even be completely invisible?
One guy did notice me though, this gentleman pictured above. I'd run into him earlier, further up the street. I'd tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he was simply too incoherent to communicate with. He remembered me though, and came up to me, still determined to communicate but failing. He wasn't actually ominous, but I did have a moment where I got the idea why sitting on the ground is a little scary, since it leaves you vulnerable in a way you normally aren't. And honestly, this was the first time I'd ever just sat down under a lamp post in a street. The whole scene was a pretty new one for me, so I hope the photo captures that a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment