This was one of the men I photographed on my first visit to Uptown. For years, as I rode the elevated train through this neighborhood, I feared that someone would beat me over the head and steal my Nikon if I got off the train. One day, however, as a self-assignment to cure my terminal shyness, I forced myself to get off the train. I told myself that I was going to walk up to the first people I saw and ask to take their pictures. I was amazed. They didn’t beat me over the head. They were flattered. During the next four years, I found that these people were much more open than typical suburbanites. This man was a construction worker if I remember correctly. He looked as though he had seen his share of bar brawls.
