Mike

Recently I blogged about a new project that I am starting called $2 portraits. The idea is that I will offer $2 to anyone who asks me for money from now on in exchange for their portrait.

 

Yesterday evening while out shooting up in the Haight Ashbury District with a couple of DMU Pals, Andertho and bluetick, I ran into Mike. Mike was hanging out on the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets in front of the Ben & Jerry's with his friend Gary and Gary's dog.

 

Mike and Gary asked me for money and so I told them about my $2 portrait project. They quickly agreed to pose, but Gary said that it was going to need to be $2 for him $2 for Mike and $2 for Gary's dog. I was fine with paying Gary $2 more for a photo of his dog so we agreed on it and I made the portraits.

 

Mike said his nickname is Iron Mike. Gary kept saying Mike was a cop, but MIke just kept laughing at that and denying it. Mike said that he was a San Francisco native and said that he was born right on Haight Street.

 

I asked Mike if he liked Haight Street and he said that he did. He told me that Haight Street has not changed in 100 years. I told him that I thought it had changed a lot just in the last 18 years of so that I've been in San Francisco and Gary immediately started arguing with him about this statement as well. Mike asked Gary to name one thing that was in the Haight today that wasn't here 100 years ago and Gary said "crack."

 

Mike agreed that crack wasn't on Haight Street 100 years ago but said that what he meant was that Haight Street has always been a place where the homeless hang out.

Done