Valentine’s Eve – a One Shot Story

Friday, February 13th — it was Valentine’s eve in New York City.  After a punishing cold snap that had lasted weeks, the weather had warmed up enough for people to get outside and enjoy an afternoon in the winter sun.  Washington Square Park was full of people who were feeling good about being there, good about being outside, good about themselves, good about Valentine’s Day coming up, good about love.

I was there too, feeling great about life and love and couldn’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon than a photo walk in the lovely weather amongst the lovely people.  I’m starting to get a feel for the public spaces of New York, and there’s something kind of special about Washington Square Park as a gathering space — it draws colorful people from all over the world and has a distinct Bohemian quality that goes back for well over a century.  For some reason it seems easier to connect with people there than in a lot of other well known attractions in the city that seem increasingly to exist as ‘selfie backdrops.’   In many other famous spots like Times Square, Rockefeller Center or DUMBO, Brooklyn, people seem intent on taking a few photos for social media and then moving on for some boutique shopping or to count up their ‘followers’ over an expensive coffee, but not actually socializing with the real people standing right next to them in person.  It seems kind of old fashioned, but people still actually come to Washington Square Park to spend time, hang out, and seem very happy to chat, b.s., joke and have their photo taken.   I’ve rarely failed to get a couple of shots I’m very happy with when I venture into the park and practice my emerging style of ‘engagement’ street portraits which involves approaching people in a friendly way, chatting with them for a few minutes and taking a few photos of them while we talk, often getting them to collaborate a bit in how they want to be shot.

Ian, a regular in the park, took the engagement and collaboration to a whole other level when I asked him for a shot.  Immediately he took charge, saying ‘yes’ to the photo and that he had some very particular thoughts on how and where he wanted to be shot, which was standing on the rim of the fountain, and that he needed some props.  He marched over to a fellow that was dressed in a red “Clifford the Big Red Dog” plushie costume (you can see the Clifford head on the far edge of the fountain under the hem of Ian’s coat) and borrowed some bright red foil mylar balloons, and then came back and jumped up on the fountain and posed on one leg just as you see in this photo.  His energy was irresistible, fun and infectious, but I was about 20 feet too close to him to include the full pose as well as the balloons in the frame, so I had to ask him to hold a beat while I repositioned and reframed.  I stepped back far enough to get a nice head-to-toe image that also kept the balloons in the frame, and then shuffled around a bit to try to pick an angle where I’d get a nice ‘pop’ from the backlight without getting undue flaring or blowing out the image.  Once I settled in a spot that felt right, I asked him to re-take the pose again and fired away.  I grabbed a couple more shots with Ian before moving on, including a shot where I moved a little closer to the fountain, and turned around for a few front-lit close ups, but none of them were as good at this first one that was totally staged and directed by Ian.  It felt really good in the viewfinder, and maybe even better when I got it back from the lab.  There’s an infectious joy in his pose, his smile, even a small gesture like the way he’s holding his sunglasses, not to mention the Valentine’s balloons.

Happy Valentine’s Day — love is in the air.

Featured Image:  IAN, WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK, 2/13/26, Hasselblad 503CW, Zeiss Planar 80mm f2.8, Ektar.

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