An Exchange

Lunch with J in our usual spot, the Café Boulevard. Walked him to work, and on the way back to my car I noticed this man with his paper cup and bible on Stephen's Green. I walked past him then stopped. After considering, I decided to take a few shots. I don't usually photograph people in the act of begging (or panhandling, as the Americans call it), not wanting to peck, in any way, at someone's dignity. But there was something about this man: compact, self-contained, almost statuesque, as if he had made himself, along with his carefully displayed bible, part of a little tableau, an exhibit. I had already decided to pay him something. When he turned to me, I asked his permission (though I had already taken a couple of shots by then). He gave his assent, seemingly without rancor. He told me he's from Pakistan, which is fairly unusual. His English was rudimentary, if that, but I think we understood each other. I gave his something, more than I normally would, though of course barely a drop in that private ocean. Alms. Hope it helped. We are all closer to the street than it might appear. In a blink your life can tilt and set you there, gently or roughly, as if this was always home.