bill

Photographing someone every day takes time and energy. It’s nowhere near a full day’s work but it’s significant. Sometimes I can plan ahead and make an appointment with someone, other times I just go out and search for images street style. When I started this project, I imagined a colorful grid of humans all the way through because I value diversity of thought, race, religion, and sexual identity. I love people, hearing their stories and learning about their realities. To me encounters with humans who are different from me in one way or another are important, meaningful, and enriching.  

The social spheres I’ve been moving about in Maine and northern Minnesota for the past month are rural and white. As my time here slowly comes to end I continue to reflect on how these little towns, the ones I know and the ones I don’t, relate to the hyper connected and polarized world we live in.

Bill has worked in construction his entire life. He was born and raised here. “Yeah I smoke, so what.” His voice is a bit raspy and he doesn’t seem like the type that invites meeting strangers. I don’t want to make assumptions, but I see some sadness in his eyes. When I showed him this image he laughed out loud and smiled as if to say thank you.