Whatever

I met up with Leonard at a bus stop here in Pasadena. He was headed east.

Thought interrupted: “Oh man, there goes the 31 bus.”

Great for me, bad for Leonard. I get to make a few pictures. He is a captive subject. So he tells me this story about his tattoos: Once I get to the tat store, the guy asks, “you know what you want?” and I say, “whatever.”

What's Your Story?

As I was on another walk in my neighborhood I passed a gentleman who greeted me with a big smile and friendly "Buenas dias". Without thinking I responded with a Buenos dias back and we took steps in opposite directions. I stopped and shouted back "wait wait"...and here, between my bad spanish and Roberto's broken english, we pieced together Roberto's story: Roberto was trained as a welder but is currently unemployed and is working as a day laborer. As I worked, he seemed very interested in my old mamiya twin lens reflex and he seemed to understand my little project. As we chatted he finally confessed that he was an artist. That his passion was painting and that he loved to paint large canvases. Since he was out of work he wasn't able to buy supplies for his art but he hoped that soon he would be back at the canvas.

What's Your Story?

I was walking my neighborhood when I spotted James. He had just finished a 5 mile run in the evening. The temperature during the day was over 100 degrees and it was still hot out.

Thought Interrupted: “I was wondering if this woman I met online had left a message.”

-James Bergstrom, designer/drafter for an engineering and consulting firm.

“My story is I am a single guy trying to find my place in the world and figure out what my calling is…and trying to have some fun along the way.”