Due to oppressive heat, I stayed inside the coffee shop, Pastry Art. Normally I would take an outside table, but this time I sat at a grouping of easy chairs. Close by was a police officer. I introduced myself, the portrait project, and told him that I had photographed only two police officers (later I remembered that the number was four). He smiled and said OK, as long as he didn't have to do anything. I told him that when he finished, I would meet him outside, where the light was flattering.
Kevin has been on the Sarasota Police force for 25 years. I asked if he was a native.
“Oh no, I'm originally from up north.”
“Where up north?”
He looked aside, smiled, and shrugged.
“Is the place so awful that you are embarrassed to say?”
“In my line of work, I am used to asking questions, not answering them.”
This was said with a smile, but I took the cue that more questioning was not a good idea.
A couple of minutes later, he pointed to my camera and asked if it was film. The Olympus OM-D prompts that question so often! I explained that the retro look was a ruse, it was a modern digital camera. Kevin opined that film was probably totally dead, but I explained that there is a niche of photographers who are reviving the use of film. They face stiff headwinds.
Kevin said, “Yeah, film produced shoe boxes of pictures that live under the bed.”
“Yep. Now we take ten times more pictures and print few or none. They never get seen.”
