Jacques of Endless New York would get right up and personal and ask people if he could take a picture. He got pictures that really piss me off because they are so beautiful and personal and intimate and a world where you could step in and go somewhere private and catch your breath.
photo: Jacques Baudrier
The worlds that I step in and go somewhere private are often devoid of people. Instead, they are filled with the empty nooks and crannies I wandered through in the deep of night by myself, wondering about life, liberty and what that office at 2 a.m. was really like.
When it came to taking pictures of people, unless I knew them, knew them very well...
...like Dana or Polly the cat...
...I skulked around and snapped away like I was a spy out of a Peter Sellers movie. Obviously bad at being sneaky but thinking I was getting away with something.
I'd take pictures from far away...
... or up close on their feet...
...or at their backs...
I hated Jacques. I hated his camera. I wanted his pictures.
No, not really. I adore him. But jealousy makes us ugly human beings, especially jealousy that really is about Jacques doing something I was quite capable of doing. Asking.
Ask, Jacques said. Ask. He even sent an article defending his case. By Eric Kim. Who said... Ask.
So. On a miserable winter day, rushing by the world, late for something, I stopped and looked at a living painting.
Oh, just walk by, it doesn't matter, said my cold feet.
No. Ask, said my eyes.
Ask, I heard Jacques say in my ear.
Ask.
Change is a horrible feeling and taking risks can be worse than getting car sick.
But not doing anything is worst of all.
The tailor smiled, gave a thumbs up and then went back to work.
**
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