The Story Behind The Image; Man Living Among Tree Roots

I spotted this man, with all of his possessions, appearing to be living among these Kapok tree
roots. See below for the story behind this photograph. (click to enlarge)
Leica Minilux; 40mm f/2.4 lens; Ektachrome 100; exposure not recorded

Several years ago, my wife, teenaged daughter and I made a vacation trip to the Florida Keys.  My son was working that summer before going back to college.  One of the main objectives of the trip was for my daughter to "swim with the dolphins" which she did a a research facility on Key Largo. 

I reserved a hotel about half way down the chain of islands so we had more versatility in traveling north or south each day to visit various islands and attractions.  On one particular day, we drove to Key West.  We had booked a tour on a glass-bottomed boat.  Unfortunately for me, the day was blustery, the waves were two to three feet in height and about half way out to our destination a great wave (pun intended) of motion sickness kicked in.  Well, the sightseeing tour was ruined for me as I was trying to do everything I could to keep my lunch down.  But I digress.

As I drove around Key West, just getting a good look at not only the touristy areas, but the residential and other non-tourist areas of the island, we drove past this school.  As I drove by, out of the corner of my right eye, I saw a head sticking out between the large roots of a kapok tree.  That immediately got my attention.  I then drove around the block and when on the side street I could see a man with all of his possessions appearing to live among the roots of the tree.  Immediately, I thought an interesting photo could be made.

I drove to the front of the building, stopped, parked and got out.  When the man saw me, he ducked down.  This was before digital so I was carrying my little Leica Minilux point-and-shoot style camera.  It had a sharp 40mm f/2.4 lens.  I had it loaded with Ekatchrome.

I found my composition by stooping down and waited for him to raise his head.  When he didn't, I thought of plan B.  I dropped the camera to my mid-section and called out, "Hey!"  He poked his head back out and I just pushed the shutter button hoping I had some semblance of an interesting image.  

 I felt a bit guilty surreptitiously making his photograph so I thought I would ease some of that guilt by asking him if all was well.  I asked him if he was okay and he replied "Yes."  I then asked him if he needed anything and he replied "No."

I then got back into our vehicle and drove away.  Unlike today, I had to wait a couple of weeks to return home, send off the film to be developed and wait for it to arrive back at my home.  The image at the top of this post is the one exposure I made.  It wasn't as sharp as I would have liked it and the horizon was not exactly horizontal but after a little editing it turned out just fine in my opinion.  I've always liked it. 

Lesson Learned:  Always keep your eyes wide open and your head on a swivel for photographic opportunities.

For those who may be interested this building is listed as "The Historic Truman School" but now is the Harvey County Government Center.  I believe at the time of this photograph the school had closed but the building had not been repurposed.  You can see the building and tree still as it was when I made the photograph on Google Maps.

P.S.  This is my1600th blog post!  I find that amazing!  How could that be?

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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