Walking through Gettysburg, I saw Russell sitting on a stoop in front of a cupcake shop, of all places. I was at first reticent about approaching him; Russell had the body language and "presence" of a no-nonsense pugilist. But I did stop, explained why I wanted to photograph him, and he simply shrugged OK. At least I hoped that the shrug meant OK.

I would have liked to ask him to move away from the brick wall, but I wasn’t about to press my luck - snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, that sort of thing. So, I tried to lighten things up with some friendly conversation.

Me – “You live around here?”

R – “Yeah”.

Me – “Originally from the area?”

R – “Nah”

OK, thanks for your time, Russell.

Bob