Encountering Aggression

For those of you who do not know my work, I'll give you a quick explanation. I drive around my suburb until I see or feel something unique. Then, I pull over load up my gear and walk up and down the immediate streets looking for that special visual. It could be portrait, still life, or a landscape. The residents of my suburb are common, middle class, average folk. Often upon seeing me with my camera and tripod they ask what I am up to, and usually they look at me oddly when I tell them I am doing a fine art project. Yet ninety percent of the folks I encounter are cool, and many have allowed me to take their portraits. I am sensitive to their fears, so most of time I ask before I photograph, and I never even think about taking a picture of someone underage unless their parent is around to ask them for permission. Even with that I get some dirty looks and a few times someone has called the cops-a middle aged man carrying a camera--HERE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD-- must be up to no good.

However yesterday afternoon was the kicker. I was walking in a typical neighborhood of my suburb, and on the opposite side the street an older woman caught my eye. She was standing in front of her house drinking something out of a red plastic cup. She and the color palette of the scene enticed me: the house she was standing in front of was blue an she was clad in white. I was debating with myself if this would make a good photograph, so I suppose I was staring. Well someone thought I was staring, because the next thing I hear from a man taking out the trash at the house adjacent to the woman's is "what the fuck are you staring at?" He followed that up with, "take your camera, and get the fuck out of here!" The man was not big nor terribly menacing, but he was extremely angry. He was obviously very unhappy about something else before he noticed me, and I became a perfect object for him to vent upon. Initially I was in shock because I hadn't even made any physical indication that I was about to make a photograph. I hadn't done anything but take a long look at this woman, who I quickly found out was his mother, and he was going nuts. I can't recall what I initially said to him, but I let him know that I had not taken a photograph. Of course I had every right in the world to take a photograph of his mother or him, but I certainly had no intention of further enhancing his rage. Then he said if I took a photograph of his or any of his neighbors houses he was going to break my camera and kick my ass. He could probably have kicked my ass and worse damaged my camera, but I don't like being bullied, especially if I have not instigated anything, so I held my ground. I told him I wasn't moving, and if he touched me I would call the cops and sue him for every cent he had. He replied he didn't have a penny, but mentioning the cops seemed to have softened the edge off his aggression. Plus, I wasn't trying to challenge him, and I let him play out the tough guy. He finally cooled down enough to take my card. He gave it to his mother, who by this time walked across the street to join us. She was a little more reasonable, and at least accepted the fact that my intentions weren't sinister. We had a brief chat about our suburb, and she was surprised to learn I knew more about her neighborhood than she did. I also told her why I was staring at her. I don't believe she will ever be a collector of fine art photography books, but at least I convinced her and her son that I was not casing their house. After a few more words I departed unharmed, camera intact. I was shaken but managed to make a few more images before I called it a day. This morning I woke up feeling sore and exhausted. It's amazing how confrontation can zap you.