SixtySix
Hmm, too cold to get motivated to go on any sort of wandering outside all day type of missions.
So, of late I either go studio, do nothing, or do nothing + spend an hour in the park behind my house.
I have hit the park for the last 3 weeks in a row now. I normally go at 3pmish when the light is starting to get good. First week I took pictures of trees, second week I took nothing, and this week I took the above photo.
As usual the park was mainly populated with babies and little kids. Seeing that I brought my large format camera out, trying to take photos of young kids is out of the question. And I guess even asking someone if I can take a pic of their kids is kinda opening up a can of worms anyway.
I go deeper into the park and walk past the skaters and keep on going. I think in the past I tried talking to them before a few times, but they weren’t really welcoming, so I don’t even bother anymore.
Get to the top of the hill and look at the sky for a while when an elderly lady with really nice grey/white hair and a shade of pink lipstick that really suited her walked by and said hi.
We spent a good 15 minutes talking to each other. She told me she used to be an editor for a football magazine and her favorite team was arsenal.
We then spoke about a range of football topics from the Robbie Fowler era, to the whole William Gallas and Ashley Cole doing ridic stuff like jumping around to different London teams and how back in the day teams like Man City were fighting relegation every season.
I asked if I could take her photo and she said she is embarrassed. I told her its cool there’s nothing to be embarrassed about and she said thanks, but that she is worried if I put it online people who know her might see.
I gave her my card and wished her a good day.
Walked around a bit more and saw someone I wanted to take a photo of. But for some reason I hesitated and let the chance pass by.
About to give up and go home when I saw the guy in the above photo.
Went over and said “Sup” and told him I liked the yellow of his guitar and asked if it was expensive.
He laughed and said no its a really cheap one. He is a soloist and if my memory isnt failing me I think he has been playing for maybe 8 years (or was it 15? lol).
He mentioned that he thought he isnt getting any better and I suggested that maybe he should try and practice with some other guitarists to try and get a different perspective. He smiled and said that he would give it a try.
He said I can take a photo and I started setting up. He seemed pretty intrigued by the camera. He said that his brother studied photography. He was interested in knowing the difference between this camera and a normal one, how much it cost and what all the different parts were.
After taking the pic I let him look through the camera and he seemed pretty excited by it.
I asked him what he had planned for the rest of the day and he said he was going to the studio later.
I told him I was gonna pack up and go because its freezing (sun had gone down) and he said he is going to stay a little while longer. I asked him if he wasn’t cold and he laughed and said that he often comes to the park at night with a can of beer to keep himself warm…
He told me he is at the park every week and that I should come check him if I am ever around.
