Guy with Leica Camera
1 Minute Read Time
He was all of them:
the girl climbing over the wall,
the somber man bent forward
getting wet on a bench,
not looking for shelter,
the Greek woman in ripped apron
lifting a washing paddle above her head
like Hercules does his club.
He was them but from a close remove, roaming, watching,
patient, fast, unassuming, and unabashed.
In a Lisbon church he photographed confession
so as to hear the whisper of guilt professed.
How much he knew about human beings
can be seen from his way of depicting the nonhuman,
tree in snow, cut down
but holding its shape,
wetlands where any old Charon
had abandoned his leaky boat.
Parades, ceremonies, official celebrations—
his lens went diving then in crowds of gawkers.
For what could tell better the king’s coronation
than the pince-nez of a lanky lady
held aloft on the shoulders of two gentlemen
so that, craning her neck, she would be able to see?
Read more from Issue 17.1.
