This was taken about halfway up the block on the east side of Broadway, between 79th and 80th Street. It's at the north end of the "Filene's Basement" store on the corner, and it's a place where I've often seen homeless people holding up a sign that asks for assistance...
With very rare exceptions, I haven't photographed these homeless people; it seems to me that they're in a very defensive situation, and I don't want to take advantage of their situation. But something unusual was happening here: the two women (who were actually cooperating, and acting in tandem, despite the rather negative demeanor of the woman on the left) were giving several parcels of food to the young homeless man on the right.
I don't know if the women were bringing food from their own kitchen, or whether they had brought it from a nearby restaurant. But it was obviously a conscious, deliberate activity, and one they had thousght about for some time...
What was particularly interesting was that they didn't dwell, didn't try to have a conversation with the young man;they gave him they food they had brought, and promptly walked away. As they left, I noticed the young man peering into his bag (the one you see on the ground beside him in this picture) to get a better sense of the delicious meal these two kind women had brought him...
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This is part of an evolving photo-project, which will probably continue throughout the summer of 2008, and perhaps beyond: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.
I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me.
I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject.
For the most part, I've deliberately avoided photographing bums, drunks, drunks, and crazy people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. I'm still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We'll see how it goes ...
The only other thing I've noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, *far* more people who are *not* so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... but there was just nothing memorable about them.
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The WORD in other words (2006) by Father Gerry del Pinado SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, November 2
A tombstone in a cemetery reads: “Take heed, my friend, as you pass by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you soon will be. Prepare for death and follow me.”
As we honor our beloved dead, we are also invited to reflect on our common destiny and to prepare for its eventuality. How do we prepare? We may not be able to determine the length of our earthly life, but we can have a hand in its width and depth. Indeed, the Gospel reminds us to“stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13).
Today’s Gospel gives us the dimensions of that width and depth. At the final judgment, our lives will be measured by how we have responded to people in need: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-36). Jesus identifies himself with them:“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
The depth and width of our lives, therefore, will be measured by our willingness to enter into the stories of the less fortunate and to leave within them signs of hope and redemption. As Scripture reminds us, our love should be expressed not merely in words but also in our response to those in need (cf. 1 John 3:17-18).
At the Last Judgment, God will have the final say. Yet a spiritual teacher once imagined that each person who comes before the judgment seat might be asked:“Whom did you bring along?” rather than simply, “How many Masses did you attend?” or “How many rosaries did you recite?” The image suggests that we will stand before God carrying with us the story of how we have treated others.
Let us therefore make sure that, when our time comes, we bring with us a company of witnesses who can testify to our love rather than to our indifference. For in serving the least of our brothers and sisters, we discover that it was Christ himself whom we served (Matthew 25:40).
