I left the house early this summer on the Saturday of the extended July Fourth weekend. I grabbed a bagel and coffee and stopped in Bryant Park. The park was mostly empty aside from a contingent of degenerates that had taken the place of the usual pastel clothed tourists. I remember wondering, as I looked for a suitable table, if all the mental patients had been given a weekend leave. While still finishing my coffee Chester Roy, as he introduced himself, decided to take the seat next to me, though there were plenty of open seats all over the park. His presence was fine by me. I’m still not clear what his situation was but he was most certainly not entirely sane. We spoke for a long while. He was obsessed with God, as I’ve found are a lot of the mentally ill and/or homeless. At one point he told me he had worked with Jesus in Baltimore. I was curious to hear the story so I inquired about the job and, although I didn’t take him for a lazy man, if Jesus was a hard worker. Chester told his story and I remember his speech was strangely staccato. He would take these long pauses, at least a minutes worth, and I would wait assuming that the story had reached its conclusion or just been forgotten about entirely. Just as suddenly as he had stopped Chester would resume the tale as if zero time had elapsed between sentences. I still wonder where he had gone in that span of time and at the time I thought how I would like to incorporate this technique into my story telling. Wait one minute before continuing.

Later Chester Roy got up and left vaguely proclaiming that he would be back. He left his sandals and his shirt right next to me. By this time I was getting antsy to move on with my morning, yet I felt obligated to keep an eye on his stuff, lest somebody else actually deem it theft worthy. Also it seemed rude to disappear without saying goodbye. After a short time he returned proclaiming that he had gotten us some supplies; a bunch of cigarette butts, I assume from the gutter, and a can of coke and bottle of water, likely nicked from one of the food carts that circle the area. I remember thinking how generous it was for a man whom I had just met, and who from all appearances had nothing, to be offering me some portion of his works bounty.

During our time together I made a few photographs.

photo: ©Michael Larkey 2012

photo: ©Michael Larkey 2012

These are from December. I’m really trying to get up to date but everything I’m working on is four to six months old. One day I’ll stop living in the past but for now…..

photo: ©Michael Larkey 2011

photo: ©Michael Larkey 2011

photo: ©Michael Larkey 2011

I updated my website with a few new images last week. I really like this image.

photo: ©Michael Larkey 2011