Photography
From my 100 Strangers project - Dike, a Nigerian immigrant earning a tough living as a pedicab driver in NYC was nonplussed by the police efforts to get him to move from his location near the entrance to the Central Park Zoo.
From my 100 Strangers project - Mr. Ed had his very simple shoeshine stand (a folding chair) set up outside of a subway stop on lower Broadway. Larry, the tired businessman shown, said that he stops by for a tune up every few days.
From my 100 Strangers project - Shereesa didn’t want me to take her picture at first and used Chucky as a stand in. Later she let me get a few shots once I showed her some on my camera, but I have always liked this one.
From my 100 Strangers project - Terry was the consummate, smooth-talking salesman trying to move antiques from his place at the flea market at the North Carolina state fairgrounds in Raleigh. I asked about his hat, and he told that yes, it was for sale too.
From my 100 Strangers project - Larique was shooting strangers with bubbles like he didn’t even care. I asked him if anyone had gotten mad at him and he assured me they hadn’t. “I just smile at them” he told me.
From My 100 Strangers project - Cherrelle was watching her nephews trying their hands at making free throws at a carnival booth set up in a Charlote courtyard. Like us, she was just in town just for the day.
From my 100 Strangers project - I asked LuAnn how long she had been working behind the counter at Sherry’s Bakery in Dunn, NC and she told me 17 years. When asked how many hotdogs she served in that period, she laughed and said “Lord, I don’t know. Feels like a million!”
From my 100 Strangers Project - Dallas was working in Charleston, SC, South of Broad, in bitterly cold February weather. I asked him if he was used to it and he said “Hell, no. This is supposed to be South Carolina!” #Blaugust2024
From my 100 Strangers project - Despite his fierce look in this photo, Al was engaging and funny. He was working a part time gig as a parking lot attendant in Charlotte for a Panthers game. I stuck around a while to listen to him tell stories about growing up during segregation in NC’s biggest city.
From my 100 Strangers project - This was one of the first photos I took when I started working on the project and I failed to get this gentleman’s name. He was busking on 6th Street in Austin if anyone remembers him, I would sure love to know who he is.
From my 100 Strangers Project - Chanya was waiting to take part in a traditional Thai dance routine at the International Folk Festival held in my hometown each year. She claimed not to be nervous, but her pensive look said otherwise.
From my 100 Strangers project - Lee, the fisherman at the Oak Island pier. We have a period every fall in NC when the blues are running and the fishing piers on our barrier islands are full nearly 24 hours a day. Lee told me that he has been fishing at Oak Island since the 1950s.
From My 100 Strangers project - Kalindra was good natured enough to let me use this guy’s prop to snap a photo. Street fairs are a good place to approach people.
From my 100 Strangers project - Tony remarked that he was an African-American making me a Korean version of a Mexican dish in an American restaurant. Whatever. The bulgogi tacos were off the hook for real.
<img src=“https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/2014-12-18cooksbw-1-1.jpeg" width=“600” height=“450” alt=“Two men, wearing “Off the Hook” T-shirts, work in a taco restaurant’s kitchen. Stainless steel appliances and a menu board are visible in the background.">
From my 100 Strangers Project - I met Joe downtown outside of a locally owned coffee shop. He was having some java and smoking a cigarette through a hole in this throat. He told me was a cancer survivor and that he just couldn’t give up cigarettes, although he no longer drank or used drugs.
From my 100 Strangers project - Spike was getting a drink from a convenient water fountain when I spotted him near Zucotti Park in the Financial District not far from Wall Street. He didn’t have much to say but was willing to pose for a photo.
From my 100 Strangers project - I met Tammy at the mall late on a winter afternoon as she was about to head inside for her shift at one the restaurants in the food court. I saw her a few times after I took her photo and she always remembered me.
From my 100 Strangers collection - Panchito was fascinated not just with my camera but with the whole process of taking photos and examining the back of the camera to see what I captured. He was not shy in the least.
From my 100 Strangers project - Steve was profoundly over dressed for a hot afternoon street fair in Raleigh all the way down to his fingerless gloves. He played a bit as a grumpy crazy guy, but in reality, he was a charming crazy guy I enjoyed talking to.
From my 100 Strangers Project - I momentarily interrupted their workout, but Eddie and Vice didn’t seem to mind answering my questions through the open window of the lower Manhattan boxing gym where they were working out.
