21 March 2009

Foot-loose


This man has very dirty feet, which is hardly surprising as he's walking around Menton with no shoes. His guitar has broken strings and in any case it has no headstock and it seems to be used as a container for his bits and pieces. He crossed the road and walked down to the beach and then I lost him.

“The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.”

Buddha (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

Nathalie (Avignon in Photos) has an interesting post today on homeless people.

18 comments:

  1. Wonderful shot of such a "picturesque" character. The foot detail is efferate!

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  2. I think this is your best character study yet. It says a lot about there you live and the local environment. It is odd to see two distinctive cultures in the same picture.

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  3. I agree with Abe. You show us so much about humanity with your photos .

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  4. Not what we have come to expect from your area. But there is that segment of life everywhere. Our area, with all it's beauty and wealth, has that segment as well. As the Bible says, "The poor shall be among you always."

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  5. What an interesting character. I would be interested to hear his story. It will take some very serious scrubbing to clean up those feet!

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  6. What a compelling image Jilly. Even in Monte Carlo.
    V

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  7. I wonder what his story is.

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  8. Yes, I too wonder what his story is. If he'd hung about I might have asked him. I don't think he's one of the regular street people in Menton - well certainly I've not seen him before and I recognise many of the usual crowd. He had a certain confidence and individuality that made me think he wasn't a street person but then he didn't have much, did he? So I guess he is.

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  9. Your camera always shows me what I should be seeing... Had I turned the corner to see this fellow walking toward me, I believe I'd have looked down, turned away, passed by. Now, I see filthy feet (with an admirable arch) and details of his guitar/prop and I wonder, what's this guy's story? I like the juxtaposition in your third photo between him and the little electronic signal man.

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  10. Jilly, a picture that comes with questions.
    The main one is : what combination of circumstances can drive a man to that extremity ?

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  11. Nice human interest photos, even with dirty feet!

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  12. Very striking images.

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  13. plus les pieds sont sales plus l'esprit est ouvert

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  14. I have to agree with Abe, your best human stud, from the blackened feet to the backslung guitar.

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  15. Makes one feel a bit sad. I hope this is only a temporary situation for him. At least your weather isn't as brutal as back here, when the homeless are in danger of freezing to death.

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  16. This photo says it all. I only hope it is just the choice of this man to wonder around the world like this in total freedom.
    An excellent portait, Jilly!!

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  17. Agree with Abe. I saw a fellow like this in Seattle when it was fairly cold, one April, and it gave me the chills in both senses of the word.

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