I traveled to Northern California, checked in to our motel room and no more than five minutes after getting settled in I saw this man getting out of his truck. Shirt off, cowboy hat, sweet beard, big belt buckle...having been busy this past month with paid work, I really haven't had the time to dedicate the personal work I love to create.
I grabbed my camera, took my shirt off to fit in, and headed in his direction. I saw his Marine sticker on his rig and thanked him for his service. From there our conversation branched in to all subjects of life. The Cowboy, who's name he wished to remain anonymous (but he did consider himself a cowboy and his nick name includes Cowboy), owns a horse ranch in Northern California as well as around 70 peacocks. He served in Vietnam and is currently taking the stock market for all it's worth. He has survived multiple heart attacks and open heart surgery. To top it off, he is a bounty hunter for some pretty serious clients and wanted people. 95% of all money made through that goes into his foundation (again that I can't name it, however it basically makes the world a better place)
We spoke for an hour about all sorts of things. There was never a dull moment. It was a extremely insightful and beautiful conversation. Despite the 97 degree heat beating down on my back.
Towards the end of the conversation I mentioned my love for capturing interesting people in photographs, and said I would be honored if I could take his portrait. He agreed under the condition that I kept his name private. We walked 10 feet away from where we were standing and created this frame.
I only shot for about 2 minutes, I knew the image I wanted in the location we had. He finished our conversation about a story from his experience in Vietnam.
He was assigned to take care of a small village. While there he handed out supplies to the people there. When he gave a small girl a wrapped bar of soap, she took it, and began eating it. At this point in the story, the hardened cowboy started to cry. This image was only captured by my eyes and only stored in my brain.
Traveling speaking, learning, befriending and capturing complete strangers. Every one of these encounters is an experience I take something important from, more than just an image. The worlds an amazing place and I am humbled by some of the people that inhabit this place.
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Edit- here are two more photos from the shoot, one with a little more detail, then another that captured his less serious, playful side.
I would have loved to see a really close portrait of this character (meant in the best sense of the word), but, what a great story. That's how good shots get made, good work.
Thanks for the comments everyone, it was a really humbling experience and I am happy I was able to get out of it what I did.
@JoeK, I only had my 24 mm lens and did get a few closer shots but the image was somewhat distorted. Since I work with primes I had to chose between the 24 for an environmental shot, or a 50 for a tighter shot. Didn't want to roll up to him with two cameras or at least 2 lenses with me. I will share one of the other ones thats a bit closer later today.
Nice story and photos Jimmy . . that's the great thing about photography, capturing the stories in the faces / souls etc. The emotions . . . I met an old guy in a cafe once . . we started talking (I just had a feeling about this guy, as you could see a deepness of 'character' in his eyes). Turned out he was on the USS Indianapolis when it went down!! Yea, THAT USS Indianapolis! I am a professional recording studio owner as well as photographer . . so I asked if he would come to the studio, let me record his story, take his photos for history sake. He was happy to do so . . . . All I can say is I was speechless for hours while we recorded his story / his wife and son by his side. I stayed in touch / sent him a cd of his story with printed photos . . A couple years later, I read in the news that a "survivor of the USS Indianapolis passed" . . . sadly it was him. I was honored to spend time with him. When I 'THINK' my life is tough, I think of him and his mates, treading salt water for two and a half days / nights, burned and covered in oil, while sharks are randomly yanking buddies down next to them and realize I have nothing to bitch about.
