This is among my earliest images. When I began taking photography seriously in the early 1990’s, I shot a lot of street photography for the New Mission News, a free monthly Mission District neighborhood paper in San Francisco. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand, Paul Strand, and Robert Frank were strong influences on my aesthetic. I hadn’t discovered Josef Koudelka, Shomei Tomatsu, or Daido Moriyama yet.

At the time, the Mission District was mostly working class and immigrant, as well as lots of artists with an edgy vibe. Finding graffiti, especially political graffiti, was not hard. The rare thing was finding a white middle-class man in a business suit walking around! He struck me as out of place in that neighborhood as he did against that painted wall.

Often, my approach when shooting street photography is to find an interesting background or environment and just wait watchfully, like a fisherman, for something to happen. This usually worked well for me since I was uncomfortable pointing my camera at random people on the streets, especially in an immigrant community. But once planted in a spot for a while, I felt it had become my territory, as if I were photographing while sitting on my own front porch, or as if I had become invisible.

So for this shot, I was hovering between two parked vehicles, checking out the graffiti’s reflections in their windows and chrome parts (and also hoping no policemen would drive by, suspecting I was “eyeing” valuables inside the cars). As the man approached, I felt an emanating discomfort from him. His shoulders almost imperceptibly slumped, eyes straight ahead, looking down as if to avert contact with the talking head on the wall, who may be chastising him.

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

The talking head’s amused eye contact adds a striking graphic element and a sense of sharing a joke with us, the viewers. The joke seems to be at the expense of the man below. Second, the positioning of the man encased between two blocs of the graffiti highlights his class or emotional detachment from his surroundings.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or differently?

The man below is rather lethargic, uncomfortable, and dull. Maybe it’s better this way. Or maybe it would be better if there was something more interesting in his apparel or gesture.

Najib Joe Hakim shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Najib Joe Hakim, San Francisco, USA

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Equipment and settings

Canon F1N / probably a 50mm lens
HP5+ 35mm B&W film.