Christopher

"How about if I stand right here?" Christopher suggested when I asked if I could take his picture. It was his idea to pose with the Saks window as his backdrop. He was sitting at the corner of Powell and Geary and asked me for some money. I told him about the $2 Portrait Project, and he was happy to participate. He was also happy to supply information about himself when I asked, but a lot of it was not what I would consider very reliable.

 

"Where are you from?" I asked him.

 

"Illinois. Danville, Illinois."

 

"Danville?"

 

"I mean Bethel. Bethel, Illinois."

 

"How long have you been in San Francisco?"

 

"Ten years."

 

"What did you do in Illinois?"

 

"I was in the Marines. I was also in the Air Force. Now I'm the President of the jail at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant. I have a home at 575 Polk Street. I'm the second judge there."

 

He went on like that for a while, interspersing fact with fiction, and seemingly just glad to have someone to talk to for a few minutes. He said he had family still in Illinois, but he didn't want to talk about them. When I gave him a few dollars, he said he would use it to buy some ramen noodles, because "I need to get big and strong, like you."

 

Good luck, Christopher.

Done