Back in February I was in downtown LA leaving a set. It was in a bad location known for homeless, drug and gang problems. I pulled out of crew parking and saw what appeared to be a homeless man passed out on the sidewalk. The glimpse was brief and I instantly questioned what I saw.
So I flipped around the block and came back to watch a pedestrian walk a wide berth down the sidewalk past the prone body lying face-down. She ignored him completely, as if he were just a piece of trash in the street. My first urge was to call 911. My second urge was to leave my double parked vehicle and attend to this man, see what kind of aid he needed. My third urge was to take a picture as my Nikon was next to me on the seat.
The fine question was easy, was he alive, drunk, passed out, knocked out, stabbed, shot or was he perhaps deceased? The only other option in my mind as I surveyed the scene was if this was part of an undercover police sting, hidden camera's to catch someone rifling through his pockets and taking some cash, change or other valuable.
My gut told me he had nothing on him but the clothes on his back and the empty bottle in a plastic bag, don't you dare leave your car double parked as it may not be there for long, This was not a good samaritan opportunity, it was a really bad set up for some thing worse....
I then realized that there were now more people from the neighborhood starring at me then at the man face down on the curb. I was the odd man out. I saw a cop slowly drive across the intersection in front of me and assumed the police have already been called on this one. Time to detach myself from the situation. So I snapped the picture and left. I felt guilt all the way home where it left me alone with nothing but film and a fuzzy image taken in a dirty rearview mirror. There were no answers, no conclusions.
This is not the first time I have snapped the image of a possible deceased individual. Back East many, many, many years ago I witnessed the end of a vehicle fire with the deceased passenger visible to every driver stuck on the tollway. It was disturbing and I still wonder why I grabbed my camera and snapped that image in my rearview mirror once I had passed the scene. That was my instinct. As a photographer, I am documenting real life situations that often provoke emotions from those who witness them. I have been doing this since I was 15 years old. As a human, I am documenting so much more than that. This is real life. I have survived so much in my own life....
Life is precious, Death is unyielding. Be grateful for all you have, be thankful for every breath and always remember this: Life is simple. We make it difficult. Needs are simple, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, something to eat and something to drink. Love is optional as a need to survive. As you move forward in life, don't forget to watch what you've passed by in your rear view mirror. . .
First one was successful and I have a happy, healthy 2 year old. We only had 1 embryo to transfer first time and same this time. I never had any spotting bleeding the first time, I started spottasdfing 10 days post transfer this time, I called the nurse immediately, today is day 11 still spotting getting redder and heavier today, I called the nurse again so we're testing 3 days early so I can know before the weekend, but still not quite full flow.
Posted by: True Religion Outlet | 08/17/2011 at 09:01 PM