As I drove down the street looking for something worthy of being the last frame on my Pentax 67ii, I caught two people out of the corner of my eye sitting at the bus stop. The first thing I noticed was the matching blue outfits and the green cage they rested in. I quickly turned off at the next turn and came full circle around the block. I parked at an old motel. The motel looked pretty beat up and I was unsure if it was still a functioning business. There were a few cars parked in the lot so I parked there anyway knowing I would only be a few minutes. I had to cross a grass section of the motel which had an abandoned pool in the middle of it and thought it might make for an interesting picture. I figured it wasn't worth a precious 6x7 frame so I kept on my way toward the bus stop.
I lugged my giant Pentax 67ii over to the nice couple and asked my usual question, "May I take your Portrait?" The nice woman reacted the way most people do, a polite but off guard "sure" followed by a, "wait, what is this for?" Of course I explained who I was and what I do with my images. She had a sweet and comforting voice that made the interaction quite pleasant which made sense after she explained to me that they just moved to Grand Junction from Texas. Southern charm is a real thing. She happily proclaimed, "We've been together for 25 years!" The man remained silent. This bus stop was on a busy street, and I couldn't fit the couple in the frame with out being in the street. So I was trying to frame, focus, and consider all aspects of photography while dodging traffic in the middle of the road. Needless to say I was pleased that the picture turned out and that I didn't get hit by a car. I gave them a business card and was on my way.
As I headed back feeling satisfied, I once again looked at the swimming pool wondering about its photographic possibilities. I got in my car and picked up my Nikon FE (which still had 10 exposures left) and thought I could spare a couple 35mm frames. I left the car running and walked back over to the pool. I have been working on having a higher hit rate with my film so I was taking my time. Framing a few different shots and then bailing because they weren't good enough. I spent a couple of minutes doing this. I framed a shot and thought to myself "man it would be awesome if there were a person in this shot" With my eye still looking through the viewfinder just thinking about the scene, I heard a disturbance in the peaceful decaying motel parking lot. An angry Eastern European man was cursing and yelling as he ran into my frame. I wasn't sure if the commotion was directed at me or not but I held my ground and took the shot. I was excited because I got my wish of someone coming into my frame, but I was also panicked by the quickly approaching angry man. When I pulled the camera off my face it became very clear that I was definitely the target of the hateful curses that flew from the mans mouth. I started backing up as he got closer. The man had very broken english, and I could hardly understand what he was screaming at me. Although I couldn't make out his words, the red color of his face and the yelling told me he probably didn't want me there.
I was almost certain by his body language that he wanted a fight. I threw my hands up and walked backwards and he drew nearer. I said I was sorry and that I would be leaving. He yelled "WE ALL AMERICANS NO RIGHTS FOR ONLY YOU!" I assumed he meant that I was trespassing and although I am a free American, there are still rules. By this point I was already behind my car door with him in front of my car. I apologized profusely and told him my intentions were not to offend him. He kept interrupting my apologies with an impressively loud "LEAVE!" so I did just that. Here he is in all of his red and raging glory.
Nikon FE 55mm Portra 400 (Exposed for 200)