Where Are They Now? - I

A cab driver in Kathmandu mimics my interest in him as a subject.

This is the first installment of a series looking back at some of my favorite street images of the last several years.

When you set out to document life on the streets with your camera you run into all sorts. The most feared are the paranoid. They see someone with a camera and they suspect the worst of you as a photographer. They glare at you. They ask you what you are doing. Sometimes they threaten to chase you or demand you delete their image from your camera while they watch.

Then there are those who are curious, a bit suspicious, but take no action. Some are sure you can’t possibly be taking their picture as they stare directly into your lens.

This month I’ve collected a few of my favorite pictures that I meant to be candids until the subjects decided to strike a pose and be full and complete participants in the creative process.

A pho chef in Can Tho, Vietnam. He and his staff went out of their way to make sure I had more than enough eat.

I wanted a photo of these teenagers hanging out before school in Kathmandu, but as soon as they saw the camera they choreographed these poses and I ended up with a shot I think looks like an album cover.

These village elders in Kathmandu hold court everyday. They have seen it all and several of them are obviously amused by my interest in their routine.

~

One Saturday in Madrid I was roaming the streets when I saw an interesting composition created by two women, hidden behind the drapery of a restaurant with only their arms exposed to the streets. As I was composing the shot one of the women saw me from behind the curtain, threw the drapery behind her and took over the scene as her friends laughed and smiled. She ruined my shot, but gave me a far better one.

Madrid, Spain.