This shoot taught me a lot about myself, while shooting behind a home goods store that does or does NOT rhyme with the word (Michael’s) while we were shooting a homeless man startled us as he crawled out of a nearby dumpster and asked us what we were up to…Not in a “security guard’s” demean but in a “hey, you guys look pretty creative, what are you doing?” type fashion.
We replied “Doing a shoot for my fashion blog.”
He replied “That’s so cool, I’m Jonathan and I used to be into fashion myself. Probably can’t tell from my digs, but I was.” For the rest of the shoot he was quiet and basically just watched our creative process.
When we finished he approached us and asked if he could have some change so he could grab lunch. I told him he could walk with us to McDonald’s (in the same parking lot) we were getting something cold to drink, and I’d buy him lunch.
He surprisingly obliged.
At McDonald’s Jonathan, the crew and I sat down, we spoke about the weather, conspiracy theories, and he even shared with us how he got to his spot in life.
Jonathan, used to be a stock marketer who lost it all, due to mental illness. He attempted to mask his illness, turning to alcohol which developed into a bad drinking problem that ultimately ended up costing him everything, family, house, cars. I was so taken aback by his story I gave him some money and told him I’d check on him. Jonathan thanked me profusely and asked what was I getting out of all of this, but he didn’t understand my brain was basically tearing in two from all the information he had shared with me. Not just about his life, but from the vast amount of knowledge he knew about so much.
It was an eye-opening to meet such a well informed man and to think all it cost me was a $5 burger, but Jonathan gave me a lot more than he’ll ever know.
Outfit Details
Top: BKBT Concept
Jacket: Balenciaga
Bottom: Missguided
Photo By: AABB Studios