I'm trying to take my camera with me when I go out. I took it today while I was running errands. I didn't see anything to shoot until I had finished my list and sat down in the Jardin. I watched the dogs taking their humans out for a walk, friends stopping to talk, another photographer with a tripod shooting the Parroquia and this young man just sitting like this holding his bike. I like the way he was centered and the way his legs and the bike frame made kind of diamond shape. I sat there for a long time and so did he. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer. I walked over and asked him if I could make a photograph. He nodded yes. I took this photograph and said, "Thank you." He nodded again and I walked off to go into the Parroquia.
You may be thinking, Soo...? I'll tell you why so. Making these kind of photographs is important for me because I find it hard to photograph people on the street. For the most part I don't like just aiming at people and making a photograph without the persons permission. I know that is the tradition of street photographers but I figured out a long time ago that I'm not really a street photographer. I like to make a connection with the people I photograph. It doesn't come easily to me to just walk up to a stranger and ask for permission. You would think that the more I do it the easier it would become but that isn't the case. Everytime I want to ask, I have to suck it up and just do it.
