Before I left, my Cleveland-based sponsor gave me the assignment of photographing "characters" that I found throughout my time in NYC, which I could potentially use as inspiration for writing. So here is a small sampling of these images, along with brief explanations as to why I found their subjects worthy of being photographed.
I call this one "Don't Talk to Me". You cannot really tell here, but this guy had two phones stacked on top of each other, and he alternated every couple of seconds. Whatever he was doing, it was quite urgent and required his upmost concentration. Or at least, he thought so. I don't know, maybe he was playing against himself in online checkers or something, but even if that was the case, he was doing it in the most professional and focused manner possible.
I liked how this guy was holding his little lap dog right up to his chest and at the same time turning away from what appears to be an empty stroller (I'm assuming it wasn't empty because that makes no sense, but it certainly looks like it from this angle). It's a visual that, if it were staged, would lead me to believe that the dog is the center of this man's life, and not his family. Of course, I'm not going to judge this particular individual based on his completely unintentional positioning of himself, but the image still ignites an idea for a potential character trait.
This poor guy had (or was having) a really bad day, and I want to know why. I can tell you with absolute certainty that he is sulking here, and not sleeping (trust me, I was there). Maybe he lost his wallet on the subway? Maybe he stepped on some gum while wearing his favorite pair of shoes? Was he just really disappointed by the annoyingly overlong title of the upcoming Batman/Superman movie? While there's obviously only one reality that lead to this particular moment in time, I could speculate endlessly as to how someone could arrive at this exact point. I think that's pretty fascinating, and definitely good fuel for a story.
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