The most expensive photograph of a homeless person ever taken
This is the most expensive and interesting photo ever taken of a homeless person:
I had filled up my camera with photos for the day, and I had one shot left. I was walking home, and I really wanted to take a picture of someone, some person, some thing that was alive. My joy was realized when a tall, black, homeless man waved me over. We said hello, and I told him I had a deal for him. “I’m coming home from work, I’ve got one more slot on my camera. Lemme take your picture, and I’ll pay you a couple bucks.” That seemed agreeable to him, after inspecting the contents of my camera and receiving assurance that I wasn’t gonna sell it.
Of course, the photo is CC licensed–I’m giving it away, and someone else might sell it.
I then took his picture, got him to smile a little. A random homeless guy, bumming around seattle in my neighborhood. I thought it added a little hometown touch to my otherwise humanless pictures of the day. The closest I had gotten up until now was the remnants of humanity: its trash:
Then it was time to pay up. I pulled out my wallet, and the first bill was a $10 bill, and as he was watching with eager anticipation, I gave it to him. That was my first bad move. Probably, I should have asked if I could take his picture for free, and then toss him a couple bucks. For my generosity, I got pestered with:
- Can I get $15 dollars so (points) this other guy can eat too?
- He has diabetes, really
- We both haven’t eaten today
- The extra $5 would buy me beer
- Do you know my picture is worth a lot more?
- I’m related to some famous basketball player and his family
- Delete my picture and take back your money (as he puts the money in a pocket)
My response to this was silence and “hey, don’t try to play me. You got 2 hours of salary out of 1 minute of your time.” I then cut out, and left. Mr. homeless decided it would be fun to follow me home. This is the route from where I met him to home. You’ll notice there’s a sharp bend in the road there. I took advantage of the bend to sprint across the street, against a wall, and up the hill until I could run into the pacmed gardens, out of site. I then finished my climb to the top of the hill, and went home. The guy was nowhere in sight.
The experience was definitely worth $10.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2005 at 11:38 pm and is tagged with hometown touch, eager anticipation, couple bucks, minute of your time, homeless person, basketball player, homeless guy, bad move, homeless man, walking home, remnants, generosity, coming home, wallet, photograph, salary, silence, diabetes, neighborhood, trash. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.
Add New Comment
Viewing 9 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment
Trackbacks
(Trackback URL)
7/23/2005 at 8:47 pm
[...] kable keywords that people have used to get to your site! For example, on this post about homeless ...