Andy

This is Andy.  He is a Vietnam veteran living in Burlington, Vermont. I met him this summer when I pulled off the interstate exit ramp and saw him sitting on a guardrail wearing a dearth vader mask.  Usually people sitting on that guardrail have signs saying, “homeless need food”, or “No money need a ride”.  Andy had no signs at all, just a mask.  I needed make a photograph of him.

I parked at Shaws, walked over to the spot where he was sitting and told him that I liked his mask. He told me he found it in the trash that morning on the way to the liqueur store.  I got one photo of him before a BPD car showed up and told us to leave.  He said that he had a camera he wanted to give me, so we both walked to a shaded area at the edge of the woods near the off ramp.  He then rolled a cigarette, lit it, and pulled an old Kodak Instamatic film camera out of his backpack.  He handed it to me and proceeded to tell the story of his uncle who was apparently an avid photographer.  I could tell that no one had truly sat down and listened to Andy in quite a while.  He told me many stories.  I hope he’s staying warm this winter.