DAN AND TOM

Dan, 2020

Dan, Tom and I found each other late one December afternoon in 2020 near a bus stop in Tampa. He was assisted in his wheelchair by his fellow nomad, a young man named Tom. Tom, a quiet person who laughed at anything was quite protective of Dan.

 Dan was not up to talking much, save for a request of me. 

“Have you got a light?” he asked.

“No, sorry I  don’t.”

“Could you go in that store and get me a lighter?  I’ll give you the money.  They won’t let me or Tom go back in there.”

"Why won't they let you go back in there?"

He leaned forward and as it were the last breath in his lungs he would ever take, clenched his jaw and gasped, "Cause they're Assholes!"

"No worries. I got money and I'll go get you a lighter."

Dan did not want to smile or converse. He was focused on getting a lighter and after he lit a cigarette, he was pretty much done “conversing.” But he did agree to let me make his portrait.

Dan, 2020

Tom could not stop smiling. He is well over six foot and uber happy. Not happy about any one thing, just happy in general. I asked him to make a serious face whilst I held the camera nearly over my head to make it eye level.

Seeing Dans’ temperament first hand, I got the answer to my question.

I didn't get to know Dan much.  He really didn't want that.  I did get the sense that Tom and Dan had the sort of symbiotic relationship that is often prevalent on the street.  It was an alliance between someone that has the answers and someone who has the force. Dan had all the answers.

We took some pictures but Dan kept shifting his eyes. He was at the very least, not used to the attention. Or perhaps, he was nervous about something else. 

Tom bounced on his toes and interjected, "Would you take my picture too?" 

Tom enjoyed the process of portrait making much more than Dan did.  Dan was a bit nervous about the attention. 

There was more there, behind Dan's eyes, but I did not feel it was my right to probe.