“Hey Man, Take My Picture!”

San Luis Obispo

When you walk around with a camera in hand - it’s a phrase you hear from time to time. In September, as I walked along the the main drag of San Luis Obispo, I heard the phrase in a tone I’ve become unfortunately accustomed to on the West Coast. Slightly mocking, with undertones of anger… I wasn’t surprised by it - the bars were open, and it is a college town. You just put your head down and put a little distance between you and the troublemaker.

Then in October, as I was walking on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, I heard it again. “Hey man, take my picture.” But it was different this time. None of the mocking tone. None of the undercurrent of anger. Just a kid in wraparound shades stopped in the middle of the street looking at me with a genuine smile.

“Oh, you’re serious?” I blurted out, in shock that I wasn’t being heckled.

“Yeah, man!” he replied. He stopped - grinned widely with an unusual double-thumbs-up gesture. I quickly pulled focus and hoped his position in the shadows wouldn’t render him too underexposed.

After I had made the one exposure - he took a step - we were heading in opposite directions - then stopped, turned, and fist bumped me.

It’s possible he was also making fun of me - in a far more subtle way than the guy in SLO… but I’m going to choose to believe that he was being genuine. It also served as a great reminder for me at the beginning of my visit to New York, that despite contrary reputations - most New Yorkers are very approachable. Almost certainly more so than most Angelenos. I didn’t make any other random people portraits during my time there - but I know I could have rather easily.

Next time.