The Story Behind The Image; Man Living Among Tree Roots

Man living among tree roots. (click to enlarge)
Key West, Florida (scan from 35mm point-and-shoot camera)

Several years ago on a family vacation, we spent some time in the Florida Keys.  My daughter wanted to "swim with dolphins" so we headed to south Florida and the Keys for a week of rest and relaxation.  On one particular day, we drove south to Key West, the southern most island.  As we drove around the island to get acquainted with it so as to plan our day and make the most of our limited time there, I spotted this man, with all of his possessions, nestled among the above ground roots of this Kapok Tree in front of Truman School.  I had to look twice to make sure I saw what I thought I saw!  He seemed to be living among the roots.  Remember this was summer and school was in recess so the building was closed up for a few months.

I told my wife I needed to circle around the block and come back as I wanted to make an image of this guy living among the roots of this huge tree.  I did exactly that.

When I reached the school again, I stopped, parked the car in front of the tree and looked over.  When the man saw me stop and park he ducked down behind this root so he couldn't be seen.  How would I make his image?  An idea came to mind.

I got out of my car, walked over to where I thought the 40mm lens would cover what I wanted to include in the photograph, and kept the camera in my hand at my side.  I purposely didn't raise the camera to my eye to compose as I didn't want to give away my intentions.  I knelt down on one knee to get the proper height, held my camera out in front of my waist and pointed it generally the way I wanted to compose the image and got ready to make an exposure.  I waited for about 30 seconds and it became apparent that the man was not going to raise his head.  Hmmm.  I then called out to him saying, "Hey buddy, are you alright? You aren't sick are you?"  He raised his head, looked at me, shook his head left and right indicating he wasn't.  Just as he peeked over the root I made one exposure. He then spoke up and said he was fine.  I stood up and told him I didn't want to bother him and that I was just checking.  I wished him well, turned and walked away.

This was the only frame from my little Leica Minilux camera that I made on Kodacolor 100 negative film.  Unfortunately, this is a pretty poor scan of the negative and I would like to scan it again, but I can't put my hands on it right now.  Isn't that always the case?

Was I ethical?  Was I unethical in my actions?  I'm not sure.  Nor harm, no foul.  I needed to get him to reveal himself from behind the root and I chose to ask him a question to mask my intent to make an image.  On the other hand, he was out in plain view (if you were driving up the street from the right side of the image, he was in plain view as the roots did not conceal him at all), and there is a parking lot to the right of the tree about 15 ft. from him.  Where he sat was pretty open except from my position.  Also, there is no expectation of privacy on public property in plain view.  I just didn't want to bother him and chose to minimize my contact with him.

Google Maps® view of the tree and school.  As you can see there was no privacy involved in where
the man was located.  The tree to the right of the sidewalk is the one in question.  There is a parking
lot to the right which looked right into his "space," and the street is just a few feet away as well.

I don't know who this woman in this image is.  However, I did find this image on the web and wanted to use it as
illustration to show where the man was located.  He was laying down right where this woman was standing.
As you can see, no concealment from the side and open to anyone's view.

I have no regrets.  I would never use the photograph to degrade or be critical of him.  He was living a certain lifestyle, by choice or necessity, and I respect that.  This is the first time, if my memory serves me well, that this image has been posted publicly.

We drove by later that day.  He was not there but his possessions were.  I've always wondered about him.  I hope he is alive and well and happy to this day.  Also, I never got to thank him for the indulgence.  Thank you, buddy.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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