Meet Otis- He recently approached me at a gas station as I was standing there for the hour it takes to fill up a Suburban. I immediately knew he was going to ask me for money as well as knowing I wanted to photograph him. He walked up and gave me the pitch. “I was just released from prison, got a ride as far as Dallas and am trying to get home to El Paso” So of course my next question was “What were you in for?”
He said he got five years for embezzlement; he didn’t seem like the run of the mill white-collar criminal so I quizzed him on exactly where he had worked and how he did it. It’s no wonder that he went to prison (if that is really where he was) because he wasn’t a very good liar.
He said he had worked at an insurance company and had filed false claims and took the checks himself. Is that possible?
So once I completed my twenty questions, I asked him if I could photograph him. We kept talking as I fired off twenty or so frames.
I gave him a twenty (did not get a release) and bid him adieu. Of course by then my tank was full and he didn’t think a twenty was enough.
I really liked Otis’ spirit and wish him well where ever he may be.
Net-net, I don’t think he was ever in prison but I loved his imagination.
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Nice shootn Tex. Story makes it even better. Keep shooting but for crying out loud get a release next time : )
You’re a good soul, Stewart. If you ever have an interest in photographing people from the other side of the tracks from Sam Wyly–those that actually did time–give me a call. My last gig was in SOC working with street gangs (not just in SOC, but in the Grove, ND, all over). There’s a particularly profound connection to art as statement on the street. It’s a different world, and I think your work would resonate.
Love the blog. Glad to have found it.
S