athensview: (Funny) Faces of Athens. “Monkey Face.” 2009. So I’ve had my two Egg McMuffins (but no hash browns, so please cut me some slack) and I’m on autopilot wondering where my right brain wants to take me and my Nikon this overcast fall Friday morning in the Classic City. It turns out we’re headed downtown. Yes! Downtown is like a box of chocolates. You never know what photo ops will present themselves. Well, I haven’t even parked yet — I’m still rolling slowly west along Broad Street — when I spot a fellow photographer at work at the corner near Mr. Haircut #1 (Is it still called that? I can’t remember when I had my first haircut there, but I’m pretty sure it was during the Johnson Administration.) Anyway, both the photographer and her subject are young women, and as I’m watching, the subject sticks out her tongue. Okay. That’s not so unusual. They’re probably friends, maybe from out of town, just fooling around. But then the subject walks away, and the photographer moves down the street toward Five Guys corner. Hmmm. She stops somewhere along the street in front of a guy sitting at one of the outdoor tables. You know what’s coming next, right? He makes a face, too. And then she moves on. At this moment, what I need more than anything else is a parking space. So we roll, Code 3, around the block, and I park across the street from what was Cookies and Co. (I have only one coin — a dime — for the meter, so I have 12 minutes to find my quarry, get the story, and get back to the van.) I know she strikes quickly, then moves on. So I hurry to the area of her projected location. Nada. Not around Starbucks. Not around Five Guys. So I walk down Broad toward Lumpkin, make the right at Lumpkin and the next right at the Globe. I’m walking along Clayton back toward College when I spot her. She’s at the corner near OK Coffee. Time to motor. By the time I’m halfway along the block, she’s crossed the street and is headed toward Five Guys. I close rapidly and catch up to her. We introduce ourselves. She’s Lauren. Lauren Hook. She’s an art student at Lamar Dodd, and she’s gathering images for a class project. She wants a bunch of funny faces. And most of the folks she asks have been willing to take part. (The possibility of art — especially photographic art — often depends on this generosity of spirit from subjects. Thank you, world!) Is Athens a special place. Yes. And I have the evidence. Click for high-res photo

athensview:

(Funny) Faces of Athens. “Monkey Face.” 2009.

So I’ve had my two Egg McMuffins (but no hash browns, so please cut me some slack) and I’m on autopilot wondering where my right brain wants to take me and my Nikon this overcast fall Friday morning in the Classic City. It turns out we’re headed downtown. Yes! Downtown is like a box of chocolates. You never know what photo ops will present themselves.

Well, I haven’t even parked yet — I’m still rolling slowly west along Broad Street — when I spot a fellow photographer at work at the corner near Mr. Haircut #1 (Is it still called that? I can’t remember when I had my first haircut there, but I’m pretty sure it was during the Johnson Administration.)

Anyway, both the photographer and her subject are young women, and as I’m watching, the subject sticks out her tongue. Okay. That’s not so unusual. They’re probably friends, maybe from out of town, just fooling around.

But then the subject walks away, and the photographer moves down the street toward Five Guys corner. Hmmm. She stops somewhere along the street in front of a guy sitting at one of the outdoor tables. You know what’s coming next, right? He makes a face, too. And then she moves on.

At this moment, what I need more than anything else is a parking space. So we roll, Code 3, around the block, and I park across the street from what was Cookies and Co. (I have only one coin — a dime — for the meter, so I have 12 minutes to find my quarry, get the story, and get back to the van.) I know she strikes quickly, then moves on. So I hurry to the area of her projected location. Nada. Not around Starbucks. Not around Five Guys.

So I walk down Broad toward Lumpkin, make the right at Lumpkin and the next right at the Globe. I’m walking along Clayton back toward College when I spot her. She’s at the corner near OK Coffee. Time to motor.

By the time I’m halfway along the block, she’s crossed the street and is headed toward Five Guys. I close rapidly and catch up to her. We introduce ourselves.

She’s Lauren. Lauren Hook. She’s an art student at Lamar Dodd, and she’s gathering images for a class project. She wants a bunch of funny faces. And most of the folks she asks have been willing to take part. (The possibility of art — especially photographic art — often depends on this generosity of spirit from subjects. Thank you, world!)

Is Athens a special place. Yes. And I have the evidence.

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Notes

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