Salem
"I am a amalgam!"
The sign made it most easy to approach the man on in a folding chair on State Street today. As part of a project for his class back in Bowling Green, Ohio was to meet new people and listen their stories. It seemed only fitting for Salem (like the city in Massachusetts) and I to meet and come to the realization that we are all just one being. Madison is city number 19 on his list, and I was his second "story" of the day. For me opening was easy enough, I am Chris "the picture a day guy" documenting daily life on the isthmus one photo at a time. Not because it's a chore, but because it's become a habit. Over the last 5 going on 6 years, I've met all sorts of interesting people with most interesting stories. Salem was very much so the type of person who listens without judgement, as I often do; in turn he had nice comfortable chairs for his story tellers.
As we talked outside the Comedy Club, I felt so at ease as I just let my story flow out of me just as freely as the oxygen flows. Even though summer is just around the corner and school is out, Salem told me that his project of getting stories isn't done yet. Upon asking "When will it be done?" he informed me that "it's never done." A life traveling around the country from city to city, learning stories with no injustice towards another's life or situation is awesome. Much like me striving to better myself EVERYDAY for the rest of my life, with photos of course.
He expressed that upon asking someone in Columbus, Ohio what their story was; they met with an objection and asked the same question to him. This is where amalgam comes in, Salem expressed that he is many things. A listener, a thinker, a man of the stars, a man who wonders about the great beyond. But most of all, these things are come together to make him who is today. To which he cried out "I AM AN AMALGAM!" Before we parted ways, I took a photo of him for the 100 strangers and my 100 more strangers project. I think it would have been awesome to trek from East coast to West coast with Salem. Alas my day job keeps me from taking months off at a time, maybe someday I'll have the freedom to venture further outside the isthmus. Until that happens, I am Chris Collins the local paparazzi!
084/100
(by definition an amalgam is a noun meaning a mixture or blend.)
Salem
"I am a amalgam!"
The sign made it most easy to approach the man on in a folding chair on State Street today. As part of a project for his class back in Bowling Green, Ohio was to meet new people and listen their stories. It seemed only fitting for Salem (like the city in Massachusetts) and I to meet and come to the realization that we are all just one being. Madison is city number 19 on his list, and I was his second "story" of the day. For me opening was easy enough, I am Chris "the picture a day guy" documenting daily life on the isthmus one photo at a time. Not because it's a chore, but because it's become a habit. Over the last 5 going on 6 years, I've met all sorts of interesting people with most interesting stories. Salem was very much so the type of person who listens without judgement, as I often do; in turn he had nice comfortable chairs for his story tellers.
As we talked outside the Comedy Club, I felt so at ease as I just let my story flow out of me just as freely as the oxygen flows. Even though summer is just around the corner and school is out, Salem told me that his project of getting stories isn't done yet. Upon asking "When will it be done?" he informed me that "it's never done." A life traveling around the country from city to city, learning stories with no injustice towards another's life or situation is awesome. Much like me striving to better myself EVERYDAY for the rest of my life, with photos of course.
He expressed that upon asking someone in Columbus, Ohio what their story was; they met with an objection and asked the same question to him. This is where amalgam comes in, Salem expressed that he is many things. A listener, a thinker, a man of the stars, a man who wonders about the great beyond. But most of all, these things are come together to make him who is today. To which he cried out "I AM AN AMALGAM!" Before we parted ways, I took a photo of him for the 100 strangers and my 100 more strangers project. I think it would have been awesome to trek from East coast to West coast with Salem. Alas my day job keeps me from taking months off at a time, maybe someday I'll have the freedom to venture further outside the isthmus. Until that happens, I am Chris Collins the local paparazzi!
084/100
(by definition an amalgam is a noun meaning a mixture or blend.)