Description:  After fiddling with the post processing of Bent for a little bit, I settled on this alternate crop and processing.  Personally, I think I like this outtake more than the original black and white outtake, but, at this time, the BW$P project is specifically for black and white portraits.

Location: San Francisco, California
Date Taken: December 31, 2009
Camera: Canon 20D
Exposure: 1/250 second
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO: 400

Meet Bent.

I was heading back to the parking lot with a friend from the downtown area when I bumped into Bent asking for money to help him out.  I stopped and explained my BW&P Project to him and he quickly agreed.  As I took out my camera, he tried haggling for $2.  I kindly explained that the project was for $1 portraits and I had to stick with it.  He agreed.

As I got my camera ready, I asked him what his name was.  He was a little drawn back by the question and carefully answered.  I had some trouble understanding him, but after guessing Ben and Brian, I finally got it, Bent.  After I took two snaps of Bent, he came over and asked to see his picture.  I showed him and gave me a faint smile.  I asked him if he liked it and he said, “Sure.”  I said, let’s do another one.  He agreed and walked back to his spot.  He faced away from me, fixed his hair a bit and turned back around.  I asked if he was ready and he nodded in my direction.

After I captured a few more photos of Bent, I asked him how long he has been in San Francisco.  He told me he been around for about 3 days.  When I asked where he was before San Francisco, he hesitated and answered, “Other parts of the state.  I was really fucked up, you know.”  It was obvious he wasn’t exactly comfortable with my questions.  I handed him his dollar and asked if he had plans for New Years.  “Yeah, you could say I have plans.  What are you doing?”  I told him I was planning on hanging out with friends and having a couple of drinks.  I then asked if he had any plans for the new year. Bent quickly responded, “British Cup.”  I was a bit thrown by the quick answer and asked, “When is the British Cup?”  He told me it was in July and that he is really hoping to make it to England by then.  I wished him good luck and a Happy New Year.  He did the same as we went our separate ways.

This image is part of my Black and White Dollar Portrait (BW$P) Project.