Roadside Bums

While I was on patrol for places that would make a good drop zone, I found this one spot... which was in a place called The Plaza in Kansas City Missouri. When out of nowhere I was ambushed by a roadside bum. It happened so fast that I did not have time to think, and in a blink of an eye, there were things that were happening that I needed to shoot with my camera. This faux homeless man instantly started drilling me questions as if he was the chief of Homeland Security. I refused to give in to his badgering and gave him the run around so that I could put some distance between me, the deployed soldiers, and the interrogator.

At one point I was expecting him to tell me that he was a Vietnam vet, or that his car broke down and he needed gas. I had heard most of these lines before from up the street where his competition feverishly work the corners.

After he felt secure enough for the soldiers to occupy the same space he was pulling contributions from, he decided to take a break from his hard day of pan handling to run his hands though the pile of bodies. His hands were very clean for a homeless man, and so I thought it would not soil the soldiers, and this made a great photo opportunity.

The man was more interested in posing for the camera and begging me to bring him a bag of toys for his unfortunate children at his house for Christmas.



Art moves people. It moved this man about ten feet from his five gallon bucket he was using as a seat.