HEY BUDDY, GOT A MINUTE?
I was walking my dog, Page, this morning and had this flash of an idea as I regurgitated every thought I had, every word I heard and every scene I saw this past weekend. I found this picture as I built a little catalog of fodder for blogging and that’s when it came to me.
What if I didn’t know this couple and just discovered this photo at a tag sale or a garage sale? Of course I’d wonder who they were, where it was taken, when it was taken, what the story was behind the photo, but most curious to me would be, who the photographer was, that took the photo?
Going to movies, we have become accustomed to suspending our disbelief and magically entering and absorbing the pictures flashed in front of us, as if some unseen, uninvolved force, captured it for the exclusive purpose of revealing the image just to you. Then I started thinking, what it would be like to be that photographer. What would I be thinking if I was the guy who snapped this couple?
Was I walking my dog through the park when they handed me their Brownie or some other ancient device from the early 50s? Did they hire me to accompany them and document their poses? Was it my camera and they reached out to me as I strolled by, catching my attention to take the shot and asked that I send it to them? Remember, back then they used chemicals, light and paper to make pictures… not the precise fill or not fill of four corner pixels applied to digital development.
Then I started thinking about what I would be thinking, if I did shoot them. Are they brother and sister? Did they just meet? Are they movie stars? Are they on a date? Will they get married and if so will they stay married? Where will they live? How many children will they have and how many grandchildren? What does he do for a living? Why did she pick him?
Have you ever looked at the most familiar person, place or thing, in your world with the eyes of a stranger?
If it was me who was walking through the park that day, and they said, “Hey buddy, got a minute? Would you mind taking a picture of me and my girl?” I would have said, “Sure. Why don’t you two kneel down by that tree over there. That’s it. Hold it… hold it, look like you’re in love… that’s it… hold it… say cheese… ” and POP!
There goes the shot. Never being able to conceive that it would be used in something called a Blog 60 years later. And then I would say my good bye and just continue down the path, wondering who they were and what would become of them.
Barry Stein's Blog 
I really enjoyed that story – a great angle to write about. I might use that strategy myself sometime. I wouldn’t have thought of the photographer’s perspective 🙂
Lorraine
Those are my grandparents!