I was photographing the sea from the railing next to this bench, while he watched me. Eventually I told him how I like his ink and asked if I could take his picture. After I showed it to him we had a quick laugh about our spreading middles.
“Venus, that’s my real name”
St and Amsterdam Avenue, New York
This is one of my favorite images from The Burghers of Broadway series. It was shot in September of 2006. There was some sort of Buddhist event at the Symphony Space, across the street. Crossing the median I encountered this pair and asked if I could take a picture. The monk on the left seemed largely unaware of, or uninterested in, me or my question. But the tattooed man on the right explained what I was asking and, receiving what I thought was a fairly non-committal response, posed. It was clear he felt greatly honored to have his picture taken in the monk’s company and I suspect he must be a revered monk of some renown.
