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"Streetside Poet?"
Equipment: Nikon F90x Date: February 2001
Near some pretty big construction in Roppongi, I noticed this old, presumably homeless man sitting on an old chair. I passed him several times, and he was usually smoking a cigarette or fumbling through an old black, leather-bound notebook. As with many older Japanese folks, his faced had a lot of character and I wanted a photo of him. Under ideal conditions, I would have opted for a black and white of him blowing smoke while looking directly into the camera. But, since I couldn't feel out whether he would be accommodating, I decided instead to get into position nearby and wait for him to look up. He spent several minutes buried deep into writing, and I began to wonder if he had spied me and was just waiting for me to go away. At last he looked up and I snapped his photo. An instant later, he saw me and immediately put the notebook up to his face to block further pictures. I got up and walked away. As usual, I felt a tinge of guilt for invading his privacy, but the scene he set for me in my mind was too tempting not to take.