Hi Godfrey, I spoke to the guy, met his girlfriend, saw their other possessions in plastic bags ... they even told me a bit of their story - from some mid-western town (don't recall), spent a couple of days on the street while trying to find a friend or an acquaintance to stay with. Hadn't any luck connecting by phone. The day of the photo they got an address and were trying to figure out how to take public transport to get to the fellow, who lived way on the other side of the city, somewhere near the Cow Palace.
Frank was pretty close in describing the fellows actual situation, if not a bit dramatic. Shel > [Original Message] > From: Godfrey DiGiorgi > Once upon a time when I lived there, I was on a long walk and found > myself in Japan Town. Found a beautiful comforter there and bought it > on the spot, along with a futon cover and a couple of pillows. When > I'd walked forty feet with all this stuff in my arms, I realized that > I didn't really know where the hell I was or how to get back to my > neighborhood in the Inner Sunset district by bus. So I sat down on a > roadside bench, with all my bedding arrayed behind me similar to this > photo, and studied the transit map for a couple of minutes ... > > I don't like to read into a photo and presume that I know what this > fellow's situation is, that's all. > > The photo does seem to express a connection with homelessness, being > on new ground, etc, which I think is what you were aiming for, so it > is quite successful. To take it as a literal statement of this > fellow's situation, though, which is what someone's comment in the > thread did, goes too far.
