I came across this man during a visit to the town of Mossel Bay in South Africa. I had my camera with me as I had the FACE challenge in the back of my mind and I knew that there was a good chance I might come across one of the many vagrants and homeless persons that inhabit most larger towns and cities. When I saw him he was busy scavenging through a dustbin on the pavement for food. I was hesitant in approaching him not wanting to come across as rude or intrusive and I certainly did not want to exploit him by taking his photograph without his permission. So I approached and greeted him and introduced myself and struck up a bit of a conversation with him. I asked him his name and if he hailed from Mossel Bay or elsewhere. His name is Allen and he's been in Mossel Bay a while now but he originally hails from upcountry in Johannesburg. He's been homeless and jobless for a number of years now and lives on the road travelling between towns and cities in South Africa he told me.
I explained to him that I am a hobby photographer and that I belong to an online photo forum and about the photo challenges. I asked him if he would mind if I took 2 or 3 photos of him and that I would like to pay him for it. He said that was fine so I took three photos of him and paid him Rand100-00 with which he was very happy. I thanked him and wished him all the best and we both went our different ways.
Really? someone scored me a 1 on this???? I honestly cannot see how you justify that. Maybe whoever that was would like to explain it to me.
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Place: 6 out of 40 Avg (all users): 6.3571 Avg (participants): 6.1905 Avg (non-participants): 6.4571 Views since voting: 760 Views during voting: 117 Votes: 56 Comments: 7 Favorites: 0
I love your story! It's a wonderful photo. We can't save them all, but what you did probably made more of a difference in his life than you realize. It made him feel "seen". Validated. So many people walk by people like this and refuse to even look at them. Like they aren't even people. It sounds like you are a natural, so maybe we'll see more interesting storytelling faces like this one :)
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