Posers

A few times as I was wandering the streets in my guise of street photographer, people have approached me and asked me to take their picture.  I call these people "Posers".  They have their own reasons for wanting the picture taken I suppose (primarily vanity I think).  I find remarkable that every time, once the picture has been taken, they didn't even ask to see the shot or look to get a copy. 

In some cases, the Posers are people who are down on their luck and they see modeling as a way to get a contribution.  I previously wrote in my entry Rittenhouse Square about a guy named Ben in Philadelphia who was in this category. 

The gentleman below stopped me on Nassau Street and asked if I'd like to take a picture of him holding up a dollar bill.  I really didn't and suspected his angle, but liked his charm.  He said, "I'll bet you don't have another picture like that!"  (And I didn't).  He got a few bucks from me but he also made me happy. 

Dollar Bill Man

This guy walked from across the street and startled me since my eye was focused through my lens.  He was suddenly there.  "Take My Picture!"   Uh, OK.... I rattled it off quickly and didn't get a chance to focus.  Then he walked away, satisfied. 

Take My Picture!

This guy spotted me taking some pictures of window grates, and said "Take a Shot of Me".  He lifted his shirt to expose his abs and did a nice little muscle man pose in front of the Muscle Maker Grill. 

Muscle Man

Sometimes there are youthful solicitors looking to get contributions for various causes from passerbys.  I generally avoid eye contact and keep walking.  That is exactly what I did when approached by the guy below.  He was collecting for a children's support group of some kind.  I was taking various shots around City Hall.  He started "chatting me up" (which is the standard technique).  He asked about my camera.  I gave him a short response without breaking my stride.  He walked along with me.  He told me about a relative of his with a Canon camera.  I responded, kept walking, getting ready for his pitch.  We walked for about three blocks.  He then said, "Take My Picture".  I stopped and took a bit of time to line up the photo.  Realizing it was a pretty damn good shot, I asked him if he wanted to see it and showed it to him on my back screen.  He nodded and said "see ya".  He didn't ask for money or even talk about his cause.  I felt kind of bad, especially since I had a decent picture of him and would have emailed it to him.  But he was gone. 

Solicitor

Comments

[Goggla]

Interesting. Do you find that the majority of these 'posers' are men? I am always nervous about taking a stranger's photo, but when I carry the big camera around, I have also had people approach me. One of my favorites was in front of the Bowery Mission. I had no intention of taking his photo, but a particular man really hammed it up for the camera, insisting I take the shot. He made me laugh. I had another unexpected encounter in Dunkin Donuts on Delancey where the clerk asked me to take his pic as he rang up my coffee. He didn't want to see the photo, either, nor did he say anything else about it.

That last pic you have above is really good - I hope he sees it.