Dale (#766) 01-20-15

At a motorcycle rally, of course I wanted to meet a couple of typical Harley types. I think that Dale fits. He was standing alone, appearing contented, during a lull in the deafening noise. He was affable and happy to be included in the 100 Strangers project.

Dale is from Clearwater, FL. He has five motorcycles, his wife two. Oh, and a dog. A bulldog who rates a trailor, towed behind Dales Bike. I checked it out, pretty neat. It is well padded and a suitable space for any pampered bulldog. When a puppy, he jumped onto Dale, breaking two ribs. Dale's. And Dale is proud of that.

Dale works for a towing company, this is his forth year at Thunder by the Bay. But he has been at the Daytona rally for 21 years. I guess he likes it. While we spoke, his wife, Daisy, and the dog approached. Daisy had no interest in being photographed, and I'm sorry to say that I did not write down the dog's name. He has a face that even a mother might have second thoughts about. But not Dale.

Bob

Miriam and Giovanni (#765) 01-19-15

The motorcycle rally was intermittently too loud for speaking; I had to pick my times carefully. When I spotted Miriam's hair in the distance, I just had to act. I waited for a minute, and She and Giovanni were slowly ambling my way. So I resorted to a technique that I find very helpful. I followed them – from in front. I slowly walked in the same direction assuming that they'd follow. When I passed by a location with decent light and background, I stopped and waited. When they went by that spot, I walked up to meet them.

Both were in a festive mood and were happy for the 'opportunity' to be photographed. Giovanni had a mild Italian accent. He has been in the U.S. For eight years. A man wearing a University of Illinois jacket passed and Giovanni pointed and Said,”That's my jacket! That's my school!”

Miriam's accent was much thicker. I had trouble understanding her name, so with Moleskine journal in hand, I got her to spell it. When I realized that it was Miriam, such an easy name, I felt a bit embarrassed. My wife and I had eaten with a Miriam the evening before, although that Miriam was several decades older with less interesting hair. Well this Miriam lives in Milan and is only visiting the U.S. She has only four more days here.

“How do you like it here?”

“It's nice, but I wanted warm, sunny weather.”

She got neither.

When I pulled up the camera, she immediately assumed this pluckish look.

Bob

Ed (#764) 01-18-15

I have seen Ed before at five points in Sarasota, always holding a sign. Usually it is something about the ills of rampant capitalism, but today's message was “Violence Insults King's legacy.” When I approached Ed I was braced for a cantankerous curmudgeon. Instead, I got an open, friendly man who appeared delighted to talk. And be photographed.

Nearing martin Luther King's birthday, Ed puts the capitalism sign away and carries the “King's Legacy” instead. Ed is 94 years old, and still plays tennis. In fact he played tennis the morning that we met. In the past he was a doubles Florida Champion in the masters division. He was born in Cleveland and moved to Sarasota in 1948 (the year I was born). During his career, he was a lithographic stripper in the printing industry, a job that no longer exists.

He has a holistic view of society and is jaded by our government. Ed seems nearly outraged by the behavior of industry and the banks. And he is very sympathetic to the people, both here and abroad, who are adversely effected by them. He is open minded about the meaning of God – one daughter moved to Israel and converted to Judaism. Ed has carried the signs for many years. Only once did a man become hostile to the capitalism sign, and tried to take it away. Passersby came to Ed's defense and the sign was saved.

Bob



Peter (#763) 01-17-15

During Thunder by the Bay, Peter was wearing the typical Harley clothing. With the beard, he fit right in. And he was sitting on a side street where the light was OK, and I could almost hear myself think. Peter was friendly, and happy to be photographed.

Peter is originally from Ireland, and he does have the brogue. Now he splits his time between Toronto and Ireland, where his parents live. Toronto just happened to be -20 that day, he noted. “You should do your 100 Strangers in Ireland, people are friendly and open there, more so than in the U.S.”

His Harley was parked about two blocks away. I asked if he had done the Daytona motorcycle rally. “Yes, Last year. Never again. It's just too crazy there.

Bob

Jovana, Aleks, and friends (#762) 01-16-15

Last weekend, downtown Sarasota was taken over by Thunder by the Bay, an annual motorcycle rally. It's a great place to see interesting people, but the ear-splitting noise makes forging relationships a bit challenging. Z's restaurant has a wide open wall to the street. To satisfy the thirsty crowd, an ice cooler full of brews was placed at the opening, tended by a pretty young lady.

Jovana (pronounced 'Yovanna') was talking to Aleks (pronounced 'Alex') in a language unfamiliar to me. They are from Serbia, so this is what Serbian sounded like (a first time for everything). Detailed discussions were impossible for the right reason – everyone was having too much fun. Jovana and Aleks were happy to be photographed, and each liked the results. While they were looking at the back of the camera, Wade came up and said, “How about me, don't I get to be photographed?” The answer to that was obvious. Turns out that Wade works at Z's with Jovana, Aleks does not. And Bob was nearby the entire time, tossing verbal barbs and wisecracks. He wore classic Harley duds. “Sure”, he said, “I don't mind being photographed.”

                                                     Jovana

                                                    Aleks

                                                     Wade

                                        Jovana & Wade

                                                  Bob

All were laughing and joking. All liked their images, and all wanted cards. I had to go back to the car to get some more. In one way, this is street portraiture at it's best, all being happy. BTW, it was before noon. I don't think that adult beverages were involved. Well, not much.

Bob

Dominic (#761) 01-15-15

I had just parked on Main St. by one of my favorite stranger hunting grounds when Dominic walked in front of my car. His beard, dapper look, and sartorial presence immediately caught my eye. I quickly fumbled to get the camera out of the bag, the Moleskine journal into my packet, and my wits about me. I had to hurry to get around him to introduce myself.

Dominic is from Tampa, and works for Merrill Lynch. He was in Sarasota for the day to learn some procedures from the local office manager. When I told him that I lived in Venice for most of my life, he thought I meant Venice Italy. I said, “If my name was Dominic, I would live in Italy.” He replied, “I'd like to live in Milan.

I explained that people in business dress seldom want to be photographed, in my experience. He was very interested in 100 Strangers and asked for a copy of the image, and my card. Dominic then THANKED me for including him in the project. I love it!

That evening I got an e-mail from him, again thanking me. I was so impressed that I have included the text below:

“Great to meet you today Bob! I think your 100 stranger project is pretty cool.  I try to talk to three people a day I would not normally talk too, and if that means stop them in their tracks to ask how their day is going so be it. All I have is today!

We are all connected 100x over and should cherish the moments we are blessed with.”

How nice is that?

Bob

Duneska and Armen (#760) 01-14-15

Armen and Duneska were imbibing in front of my favorite coffee shop, so they were fair game. When I 'made the ask', Duneska seemed a little befuddled and reluctant. Armen said yes right away. She asked,

“What is this for?”

I showed her my photostream and said,”It's a way to meet people. The camera is a tool. I never would have walked up to you and introduced myself without the camera.”

Armen: “Why not?”

Duneska smiling at him: “Because you look too mean.”

Armen moved here from Ocala, FL, eight years ago, to be near family. He likes Sarasota and Ocala about the same. Duneska came to the U.S. From Columbia 16 years ago. She has a slight, delightful accent.

I got a few shots of Duneska, which she didn't like at all. A bit frustrated, I turned my attention to Armen. He really liked the images, as did Duneska. I saw how she was sitting and said, “Don't move, stay just like that”, and got the posted image. She liked it. I e-mailed both to Armen, and have had no reply.

Before leaving, I asked Duneska, “What should readers know about Columbia?”

“That it is a beautiful country, and pretty safe. It's not like you hear on TV.”

Bob



Stewie (#759) 01-13-15

While driving, I waited for a long red light. A young man walked by on the sidewalk, looking at each car. He held a crude cardboard sign that said, “Homeless, will work, God Bless.” After he got 30-40 yards away, he turned about and headed back to the corned, whacking his sign against each signpost that he passed, as if he were mad at it. At the corned, he turned around and retraced his path.

Next to me was a bank. The entrance was in shade, a decent place for a portrait. When the light turned green, I pulled into the bank parking lot, got out, met Stewie, and discretely made a small contribution to his well being. He said that the sign was legal, as long as cops didn't see him accept money from someone in a car.

Stewie's Mom wants him to move back into her home. But he prefers the freer life. Stewie lives in an unofficial homeless camp. I asked if he was looking for a job.

“I can't work because of a disability.”

“What kind of disability?”

“Mental.” I thought of him slapping sign posts with his cardboard sign.

“I think that stores like WalMart accept people with treated metal disorders.”

“Yeah, but they cut a check. The Feds know about it and withhold money. I can make more money doing this.”

Bob



Matt and Katie (#758) 01-12-15

It was late morning that I strolled through a market in Bradenton. Matt's hair immediately caught my eye, as they slowly walked my way. It was high overcast and no shadows were evident, so I figured that light would be soft enough where we stood. I was wrong.

As I explained to the two of them, “... and my job is to meet 100 people I don't know...”, and Matt cut me off. “I'm one of them.” Needless to say, I immediately liked Matt. Matt is from Vermont, and moved to Bradenton 13 years ago. He works for a company detailing boats, and he'd like to strike out on his own. Katie is from Bradenton and went to Manatee High School. I asked Katie, “Is he getting you to detail boats?” Laughing, she said “Not a chance.”

As I said, the light was suboptimal. I paid the price with more post processing than I like.

Bob

Justin (#757) 01-11-15

Justin is from Seattle, having moved to Sarasota 1 ½ years ago. His girlfriend relocated to Sarasota with their son, so Justin followed to stay close to his son. About a month ago, I met a stranger with the exact same scenario.

Actually, Justin likes Seattle better. The social scene is more active, Sarasota is more sleepy. He is trained in computer science, but if he wanted to work in that field, he'd have to commute to Tampa, about 50 miles away. So instead, he works at Micheal’s on East, an upscale restaurant about three miles away. There he could walk to work, but prefers a bicycle instead. In Seattle, numerous large IT companies were with walking distance of his home.

Bob

Cleo (#756) 01-10-15

Looking for a 'new' jacket, I entered one of America's treasures, a Goodwill store. A lady immediately greeted me, “Welcome to Goodwill.” It seems that WalMart has institutionalized the 'greeter.' As I left with my contraband, she smiled and said, “Have a good day!”. I went to the car to drop off the jacket and get my camera.

When I reentered the store, she looked surprised. When I explained the project and asked to meet and photograph her, Cleo immediately agreed, but the smile vanished. She became all business. I asked if she could step outside for a minute, and she agreed. As we took a few steps she said, “excuse me..., Welcome to Goodwill” to an entering customer. I got a few shots immediately outside the front door; she suddenly turned around toward an approaching customer, “Welcome to Goodwill.” Cleo takes her job seriously.

She is from Asheville, but was not interested in talking about herself. The more I talked, the more suspicious looking she got. I showed her the image on the LCD. She didn't look particularly pleased when she said, “The camera sees what it sees.” I asked if she wanted me to get another shot, perhaps with her smiling. “Don't matter. The camera sees what it sees.”

Bob

Dick (#755) 01-09-15

Sitting in front of my favorite coffee shop was Dick, sipping his latte. Such a distinctive look allured me, and he was very amenable to chatting and being photographed.

Originally Dick was from Chicago. He sold consumer products around the world, and spent time in the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, and other locations in Asia. Forty years in all. His wife was born in Philadelphia and they now split time between Sarasota and the Pocono mountains. Not bad.

Their Sarasota condominium is right downtown, they can walk anywhere. The large homeless population doesn't bother them at all. Dick was enjoying his Pastry Art latte, but he has a different favorite coffee shop. Somewhere else for me to try!

Bob

Rocky and Maria (#754) 01-08-15

I saw Maria and Rocky in front of Pastry Art of course. And this is the first rocky I have met in this project. I told them about the 100 Strangers project and said that Maria looked like a real character. She burst out laughing, and Rocky said “yep she's a character all right.”

The two of them used to work at Pastry Art and Maria was the manager for a while. She said that when ownership changed about three years ago, the whole culture became too serious. Nobody smiled (that has not been my experience). Now they each work at eateries within a few blocks of where we sat. Both were engaging, and Maria's hearty laugh is contagious.

A few moments after we parted, I saw them searching for something. Rocky had lost his wallet. There were no more smiles, and no contagious laughs were heard.

Note: No smoking is allowed in front of Pastry Art. Rocky's cigarette is a prop, it is not lit.

Bob



Al (#753) 01-07-15

While drinking a cup of Joe al fresco, I saw Al across the street, walking in the other direction. Something about his demeanor caught my eye, and I resolved that if he came back, I'd meet him. Sure enough, after walking a block he about faced and headed my way. I quickly crossed the street and walked toward him. In an unusual display of efficiency, a busboy immediately removed my ½ cup of coffee, the price of being a stranger portrait photographer.

Al seemed amused by my request and immediately said “OK.” I halfway expected him to ask for a little money, but he didn't. Instead, he went right into a series of poses, he clearly likes to be photographed. He is originally from Sarasota. I asked if he worked nearby. “No, I'm just hanging around now.” Hmmm...

I asked if he had eaten breakfast, he had not. But Al had to be somewhere in a few minutes. So I dragged him across the street into Pastry Art and bought him a muffin to go. The look on his face as we parted suggested that this had not happened too often in the past.

Bob

Logan (#752) 01-06-15

At the Sarasota Farmer's Market, Logan was working at the back of a pickup truck. He was unloading pots of flowers. After working at other jobs, he finally joined his father in flower sales 2 ½ years ago. A I asked if they grew them. “Oh, no. How can you compete with flowers from South America. They are shipped in one day and are still cheaper then we can grow them.”

Logan went to nearby Sarasota High School, and was the fourth ranked pole vaulter in the state. Of course, ribbons are for first, second and third. That career ended badly. A pole broke, and he pulled all the ligaments in one shoulder.

I asked about his scratches and shiner. “On Christmas Eve, I tried to break up a fight in a bar. But the other guy lost. He's in jail.

Bob

Genie (#751) 01-05-15

Went to a different Farmer's Market for a change of view. And, some different faces. Genie was sitting on the curb on a street corner, singing and playing the guitar. She seemed to be appreciated, as I saw a few people adding to the tip jar.

Genie was born in Freeport, NY, but spent much of her life in the Dominican Republic. She had no accent. She and her husband (who works at a market a few yards away), now live on a 32 foot sailboat. We discussed how the west coast of Florida is not very live-aboard friendly. They have been in the Bradenton area for seven months. Soon they plan to move on to the Florida Keys, and then Puerto Rico.

Genie has studied some photography, and gave me her e-mail address so that I could send this image.

Bob

Robert (#750) 01-04-15

Robert was sitting on an outside stool at Smokin' Joe's bar. He had a DSLR in his lap, a 3000 series Nikon. This location always works for me, the light is very nice. At bit quiet at first, he opened up and “got into the spirit.”

Robert is from Belmore, a neighborhood in Queens, NY. He left young, but remembers small houses being close together. Once he went to a store to buy candy and got lost on the way home. All of the houses looked alike. Being from Queens also, we traded stories about “the good old days', and how the neighborhoods have changed. Not for the better.

He photographs all kinds of things, and was interested in Flickr. He seldom shows his work. Robert was very interested in 100 Strangers and took a card. Before parting, we photographed each other with our respective cameras to our eyes.

Bob

Tessa (#749) 01-03-15

Tessa, who works at Pastry Art was sitting in front of the bakery, waiting for her shift to begin. This was the first time that I had seen her outdoors, so I immediately approached her. Amazingly, sue was a bit reluctant; I know that she has seen me photograph people many times, including her coworkers. I heard a bit of the usual, “My hair doesn't look good today”, etc. But once she agreed, she couldn't stop grinning.

Tessa is familiar with Flickr, and has an account. I asked if I could find her under “Tessa.” She wasn't sure, as she had changed accounts a few times. I asked:

“Had you been hacked?”

“No, but when Yahoo took over, it was a Cluster.”

“Wait a minute, I know that word!”

Bob

Andrew (#748) 01-02-15

I had just been turned down by a stranger, in front of my favorite coffee shop, no less. While licking my wounds, a barista, Joel (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobdeinphoto/15016197129/) came out and spoke with a man sitting alone. He was clearly outgoing, and worked somewhere nearby. When Joel left, I made my move. Andrew was very outgoing, and we had a long conversation about the local homeless situation.

He is a bartender at the Gator Club, about a block away. For 18 years he has seen the homeless, drunks, crack addicts, crooks – the gamut. Having been homeless himself, Andrew has seen it all, from both sides. He recounted local homeless people (some of whom I have photographed) who had one stroke of bad luck that destroyed their lives. And others who are crackheads, hustlers, and you-name-it. But overall, Andrew is nonjudgmental, and caring for the homeless population. One fellow has panhandled me several times, and is a former Stranger. Andrew says that Phil gets a Social Security check and has a place to live. Panhandled money goes for cigarettes. Another of my former strangers is an excellent pianist, but gets stinking drunk most nights, sometimes at the Gator Club, and is a general nuisance. One psychotic (harmless) fellow sat in front of the Gator Club rubbing oil on his feet and selling strange artwork. Andrew chased him off. “He's going to hurt business. We need business to pay our taxes, and pay his Social Security.”

What an interesting dialog. I look forward to chatting with him some more – so many stories to tell. Oh, and Andrew is positive that Obamacare is going to provide needed services for some of these people. That should appease some readers, and enrage others.

Bob