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You can take a picture of me with my picture.


jameswages
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Street

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I took this picture in Terrace British Columbia. I got up @ 5:00AM

and was out shooting before we had to travel to a job on the

Alaskan/Canada border. The area is economically depressed and this

fellow approached me as I was looking at some First Nation art in a

closed store window. He asked in a slow measured cadence if I would

like to buy some as he could use some money. He was likable, polite

and was freezing wet. I gave him 2 "tooneys"(Canadian 2 dollar

coins) and assorted American change that amounted to probably 4

dollars. He was kind enough to pose with the piece I had purchased.

It was an Eagle drawn with colored ball point pens on a paperboard

back of a shirt box. I traveled about 400 miles north for work later

that day. While I was gone, I kept thinking about my encounter with

him. His gaze haunted me from the LCD screen on my new Sony camera.

I believed he was not your typical panhandler, a self-inflicted

victim of the seductions of drink and drugs. On my return trip

through town weeks later, I spoke with the shopkeeper where this

happened and related my earlier encounter. She informed me that he

was frequently selling on the street, and was born mentally ill. He

grew up there and had no family left that would care for him. He

lived wherever it was dry, sometimes in a shelter, sometimes in a

culvert or car at the junkyard near the river. She and other

merchants had often given him a few dollars here and there to keep

food in him. She truly cared about him and had watched him grow up.

Because he wanted to work for what he got and did not like charity

he would trade her something in the same style as I had bought. They

would agree on the condition that if she sold it they would split

whatever was gained. She brought out a stack of them from the back

room. 40 or more crude representations on whatever media he could

find, and commented on how she had difficulty selling them alongside

the established Artist?s work in the window. We made a deal for a

large work of a Raven. I paid her an American twenty on the

condition that she would keep him in coffee money less the dollars

she had paid him for it. She was thrilled and agreed. I framed them

and they are on the wall behind me now in my comfortable house. I

will never forget the few minutes I had chatting on a cold rainy

March morning with a man named Eugene who really was very proud of

what he created. Talk about a true artist.

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Thank you for sharing your story of this truely unique individual. Something stopped me as I was going through all the new critique requests when I saw this. I was hoping for some more info and I found it. There is something in his eyes and stance that make this picture profound. Someone once said to me... "only god know the form of his angles." Perchance, he is one of them. Greetings, Tracy
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The story is wonderfull and the story is reflected in the image you took and that's enough. I do not care but the image would be better if more sharp.....
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I agree on the sharpness of the picture. It sure could have been better. When I took this I had just purchased the thing for this trip and did not quite have the hang of shooting again yet. Besides the subject was not the only one freezing.
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I've worked the past 24 years of my life with the mentally ill. One such fellow was a very good artist, just like Eugene here - and he was fortunate enough to catch the eye of a gallery owner who represents his work. My acquaintance has also been fortunate enough to get a guardian assigned to ensure he was not exploited, etc., as he was inclined to give large pieces of art away when he was out of cigarettes, etc.! We could do better in our society for those who cannot protect themselves...

 

I agree with everyone concerned that aesthetically the shot would be better sharp...Anyone who looks at the rest of your portfolio knows you can shoot in focus...However, sometimes it just does not work out that way - and getting the shot and the story were more important in this case, I think!

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Thanks for your confirmation of what I was saying in my critique request. I put the photo up knowing full well the aesthetic and originality shortfalls of the image. What drove me to submit it was my need to share and tell the story of this soul and how he had inspired me. It appears that I have done a good job of relaying my message.Hopefully the message of all those who are not able to express their own on this forum can be carried along with it. Thanks again to you and all who have taken the time to read the story of the picture.Remember, one of the keys to a happy life is to always buy whatever a kid is selling in his front yard. James
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