Rich Leung

Rich was handing out advertising materials for the NFL Network's debut of a documentary on New England Patriots Coach Bill Bellicheck. Rich, along with the statue of John Singleton Copley is wearing the signature gray sweatshirt of Coach Bellicheck.

The Dolls

I met Lexie and Cat on my walk through the Public Garden one day last week as they were setting up their dolls on the bridge. I had to stop and ask them what they were doing. It turns out their hobby is collecting dolls and taking pictures of them in different places. You can see Lexie's Photos and Cat's Photos on Flickr.

Painting in the park

This is Jennifer, who I met in the Public Garden last week. She was painting the George Washington statue (see my post tomorrow) along with a couple of friends. Jennifer is a local artist from Hingham, a town just south of Boston. Jennifer was very friendly and even stopped to let me take her portrait. We talked of the merits of composing a picture and not having to crop, but she did admit to trimming a canvas to achieve a better composition; I think it's all part of the artistic process. You can see Jennifer at work below and a some of the painting she was working on.


To see more of Jennifer's art visit her at jenkellydesigns.com.

All aboard

This is Frank, a "Redcap" at South Station in Boston. Frank has been a Redcap for a year, but has worked for Amtrak for 30 years. He said he stepped in about a year ago when one of the Redcaps got hurt. He said he has done just about everything at Amtrak and he really loves his job. Frank can also be seen on the Amtrak Guest Rewards website as one of the models at a train station.

I'm heading out of town and will not be doing any posting or commenting for awhile..

Amy, the Roller Girl

This is Amy, who goes by the name "Bad Person" #55 as a member of the Wicked Pissahs Roller Derby team. I met Amy, excuse me, "Bad Person" on the Common Saturday as she was skating around on her quad wheels and promoting an upcoming double header, or bout as they like to call it, on April 17th at Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington.

First game starts at 5:00pm: Boston Massacre vs. Philadelphia. The second game at 7:00pm and features the Cosmonaughties vs. Nutcrackers.

Amy said they don't play too physical a game, but I think she was just being modest. After all, why do they call their games bouts? More information and pictures of the teams can be found on the Boston Derby Dames website. It's worth a visit just to read some of the Roller Deby names the women use.

Here is another shot of "Bad Person" in her Roller Girl uniform with the postcards she was handing out.

Tom Rockwell

Tom works at Project Place and lives at the YMCA on Huntington Ave. Tom spends a lot of his free time searching for lost "treasures" in the city. He uses a metal detector, but mostly he scans the ground for things that people drop and lose or sometimes fall out of rings and earrings. He said he probably has the largest collection of diamonds in Boston, and one of these days he is going to have them appraised.

Beth Uptegrove

I met Beth outside the Boston Public Library on Saturday. She was taking photos and like everyone else in Boston enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Beth was very friendly and quick to smile, as you can see. She said she designs displays for the Harvard Coop Bookstore in Cambridge and was looking for a photo of Boston to use in a display she is planning. Beth said she previously worked as a photo stylist before her present job.

This photo is one of my 100 Strangers series and also my weekly entry for Monochrome Monday.

Brewer Fountain under repair

This is Josh Crane who has been working on the restoration of the Brewer Fountain on the Common for the past few months. The re-dedication for the fountain is scheduled for Spring 2010. The restored fountain will have water and lights, which will be a first in my recollection of the fountain.

Josh told me there are ten similar fountains he came across in his research. The last time the Brewer fountain was taken down and disassembled was in 1920's when it was moved to its current location.

The Fountain was the first piece of public art on the Common and was donated by Gardner Brewer in 1868. The fountain is a bronze replica of a French original that won a gold medal at the 1855 Paris World’s Fair. The figures represent mythological figures associated with water: Neptune, Amphitrite, Asis, and Galatea.

Monochrome Monday

Meet Roy, he volunteers as a Civil War interpreter at Fort Independence on Castle Island in Boston. He says he came to his love of theater because of his English teacher, Miss Rose. And that led him to doing what he does now, combining his interest in theater with his interest in history and the American Civil War.

If you like this monochrome picture, click here to find other Monochrome Maniacs so you can enjoy their photos as well.

Big Al

Big Al is one of the drivers for the Old Town Trolley in Boston. So if you have ever visited and taken one of these tours you may have met Big Al.

Below was a line up of tour buses in front of the State House when I met Big Al. His bus is the first green and orange bus.

One of Boston's Finest

Edward is a member of the Boston Emergency Medical Services (EMS). I met him while he was on duty at the Scooper Bowl fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund on Thursday. While his pose here is serious as befits his calling, I found him to be easy going and quick to laugh, great assets for an Emergency Medical Technician.

Four Trombones and a Girl

Meet Grant, Chris, Wei, and Yozomi. All 2009 graduates of the New England Conservatory of Music, except Chris who graduated from the Boston Conservatory. They are looking for work as musicians and in the interim are playing for donations in the parks of Boston. In the picture above I saw them playing a few weeks ago on the Boston Common; below they are playing in the Public Garden. And yes, they play beautifully. I was not initally aware of it, but there is actually quite a lot of music written for trombone ensembles like this. I wish you guys luck in finding employment in music.

Emily the Barista

I met Emily in Peet's Coffee on High Street as she was grinding some coffee for me. She has worked at Peets for seven months but is leaving soon to work in a dentist's office, for which she jokes she has no experience. Don't worry, she won't be working with patients because her background is in Education. She would love to get a teaching job but none are available right now.

Emily previously worked at a Starbucks in another section of the city (I won't say where so certain college students won't be offended if they read this), and was unsure at first about coming to Peets. But she says she likes the customers at Peets much better than at Starbucks. I like them too, especially since I am one of them:)

Emily is a baseball fan of her hometown minor league team the Rochester Red Wings; who by the way play in the same league as my favorite minor league team, the Pawtucket Red Sox. She also told me both of her parents are professional photographers. Her father is a Leica afficiando so she was especially interested in my DLux-4.

Note to Emily: if you want to see the other photo with the, as you termed it, "the Leica expression" on your face drop me a line. And thank you for letting me take your picture. Good luck in your career.

For more information on the 100 Strangers Project visit the 100Strangers.com Project on Flickr.

Bob the Grounds Keeper

Bob has worked in the Public Garden as a grounds keeper for 15 years. When I asked if he minded having his picture taken he said he has had his picture taken many times by tourists and is used to it. He said he has seen everything filmed in the Garden, from photography shoots to movies.

Meet Tom Johnson

I met Tom Johnson while visiting the grounds of the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Tom is the Family Services Director for the cemetery and has worked there for seven years. He says that in his job he coordinates services for families and events and loves his job. Prior to working at Mt. Auburn, Tom worked in the funeral industry and for the airlines.

Tom is shown here in the Gothic Revival Bigelow Chapel. He was happy to talk about the cemetery, its magnificent grounds, and the Bigelow Chapel. The Chapel for instance, just finished a 2.5 million dollar restoration of its stained glass windows. I'll have a picture of part of the stained glass tomorrow. He also told me that Mt. Auburn Cemetery is the second largest flyway for birds in North America, definitely a place to visit if you like birding.

One other interesting note about the Bigelow Chapel is that Tom said it will soon be available to rent for weddings at a very reasonable rate. (The only prerequisite is you must watch Four Weddings and a Funeral before booking:)



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Meet Alfred

I met Alfred in the Public Garden the same day I met the 4 Lovely Latinas, previously seen on this blog. He spied me crouching in the grass taking pictures of the tulips and he struck up a conversation.

Alfred is a photographer too and was naturally interested in what setting I using, what I was seeing, etc. A naturally gregarious man, Alfred was very easy to talk to. He had heard of the 100 Strangers Project and was very willing to participate and pose for me.

Being a good photographer Alfred suggested I take a second shot because he thought his hat may have cast a shadow on his face, and he was right. The second shot was better.

Alfred told me he lives on the Cape (Cape Cod) and works in Boston as a Career Counselor so he has been very busy lately. Most of his photography is done on the Cape, but he hasn't quite made the philosophical move to digital, yet. However, he did say he owns both a Nikon D80 and a Panasonic Lumix so he is serious about his photography.

It was a pleasure meeting you Alfred and I hope next time we meet you have your camera and maybe I can return the favor and pose for you.

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This post is being brought to you by the magic of Blogger. I'm not really here, but traveling for a few days and unable to visit or respond to comments. Thanks for visiting.

Four Lovely Latinas

I met these four lovely ladies in the Public Garden when they asked me to take a picture of them with their camera. This happened about ten minutes earlier in another part of the Public Garden. I took their picture and then continued on my way. Though, I couldn't help but see them running to different spots, taking pictures of each other and generally laughing and having a great deal of fun.

At the footbridge I literally almost bumped into them again and knew I had to ask to take their picture. Not surprisingly, knowing them a little now, they immediately said yes and struck the pose you see here. The four were as joyful in person as they look in the photo.

They are from left to right, Francicsa from El Salvador, Claudia from Colombia, Esmerelda from Colombia, and Francis from Honduras. I asked them how they knew each other coming from different countries and Esmerelda told me they work together and were waiting for their boss who was at lunch. Taking pictures in the park is a great way to spend your lunch hour, after all, that's what I usually do too.

Thank you Francicsa, Claudia, Esmerelda, and Francis for allowing me to take your picture.

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This post is being brought to you by the magic of Blogger. I'm not really here, but traveling for a few days and unable to visit or respond to comments. Thanks for visiting.

Meet Jerry

I met Jerry on Washington Street at Downtown Crossing. As you can see he is a mounted police officer, a member of the Boston Police Special Operations Unit. Jerry patrols the Downtown Crossing and the Back Bay Fens (commonly called "The Fens") area of Boston. The Fens is where the Red Sox play baseball at Fenway Park, and the Museum of Fine Arts is located.

Andrew and Rachel

This Saturday I thought I would provide us all with the opportunity for some exercise. Biking is the perfect group activity, a wonderful way to get some exercise, and a way to tour the city and not contribute to pollution by taking a tour bus.

I met Andrew and Rachel at Downtown Crossing as they were publicizing Urban Adventours, which provides bicycle rentals, water, and most importantly, bicycle tours of Boston. Andrew is the "Chief Wheel Operator" of Urban Adventours located in the North End and would be the perfect guide for a bicycle tour.

Biking is not something Boston is well known for, probably because of our narrow streets and the infamous Boston drivers, but biking is the perfect way for visitors to discover Boston or for locals to rediscover Boston.

First Stranger: Sarah

Sarah, with the Mona Lisa smile, was waiting for her friend Carol when I met her outside the Borders Bookstore by the Irish Potato Famine Memorial. Sarah told me she is an animal lover and was enjoying watching all the pigeons, as some were variously resting on the ground and others perching on the statues. Not surprisingly, Sarah told me she was an animal lover; and works nearby.

This is my first official post of a portrait of a stranger. It is difficult to overcome shyness and approach a stranger and ask to take their picture. It took me a long while to get up the courage to even consider such a project for myself. One wag said he simply bought a zoom lens, case closed. But I wanted to see if I could do it - talk to people and ask if I could take their picture.

I have been inspired by many, but especially Steffe from Haninge, Sweden and his Strangers No Longer Project; as well as a group of kind Australians who have encouraged me and have a blog for their own 100 Strangers Project, and Saretta who just started her Molfettan Faces this past Saturday. And finally, here is the link to the original 100 Strangers Project on Flickr.

Sarah is my first, and I hope not my last. Did I spell your name right Sarah?