The Story Behind the Photo

Several times a day I feel like I come across interesting photos and often wonder what the story behind the image is. How was it captured? What was going on before and right after it was taken? These are questions that are rarely answered (which is part of the fun of photography but sometimes it's just as interesting to learn more about a photo). I plan on making this an ongoing series where I briefly describe the story behind some of my favorite photos. Part 1 is below.

I passed this guy twice a day every week on my way too and from class during the first semester of my senior year at Syracuse. Sometimes he had a friend with him but oftentimes it would be just him standing on the street corner of Waverly and University, beseeching anyone who passed to repent any one of their enumerable sins.

I tried several times to capture a photo of him but was never satisfied with the result until this day right before Winter break. I got out of my last class for the day just as it started to snow and wasn't planning on walking this way but decided to take a different route home. As I got further down the street, the snow began to fall more heavily and the visibility decreased dramatically.

Up ahead, I could hear his muffled voice through the snow and make out the outline of his black jacket against the white back drop. I had started carrying my camera around with me to class and stopped to take it out of my bag. When I was about 50 feet away I snapped this photo with my 70-200mm lens and continued on my walk home. Later in the day, classes were cancelled due to heavy snow fall for the 2nd time in my 4 years at Syracuse.

I like the way this photo kind of looks like a doomsday situation with all the snow falling and how his black coat and the sign contrasts with the white all around. You can tell how windy it was from the the snow caked onto his hood.

I hope this type of storytelling is interesting to you. Let me know what you think!