Venice Beach, CA. Quite possibly one of the weirdest places on earth. This guy ate glass, stapled himself, swallowed swords, spit fire, lay on a bed of nails while someone jumped on him,... I was in pain just watching the guy. Speaking with him afterwards, though, I took him to be a thoroughly intelligent, engaging, kind and quite "normal" man who simply needed to make a living.
That guy has really intense eyes. Venice beach sounds like a great place for some interesting if diverse photography. I really enjoyed viewing this shot. Nicely done:)
Wow! Awesome portrait! I love it when an image makes you stop and look at it and this guy looks like he has a lot of good stories to tell or maybe even better... be told about him.
@ditto44 Thanks, Nic! Photoshop, silver FX, and Lucis Arts plugin is what I chose this evening for this this guy. No way in hell I could tell you the exact steps, tho!!! ;-)
Wow...you've really captured this unusual man very well. He's full of character. Sounds like he might have a few stories to tell too about how he got to being such a performer.
Venice beach is always interesting-- there are so many people there trying to make a living with street performances-- I guess you have to take it to the extreme to be noticed. Either way-- this is a really beautiful portrait!
@bonniebouman Hi Bonnie, yes I did talk to him and he was more than happy to have his picture taken. I find most people are once I get the nerve to ask! :-)
Heckuva portrait with lots to look at. I'm not so sure about the "normal" comment, though. It is unlikely that he would be welcome here in southeast Idaho.
Didn't you post this guy (or someone else) as part of your project in 2011? I think I remember this from back then. It's amazing what you have to do to earn a buck. Makes for a very unique portrait!
@aikiuser
That's good, you're brave. I sometimes think that if they know their picture is being taken they'll "pose" and whatever I noticed about them won't look as good. Or, more often, I just chicken out.
That's good, you're brave. I sometimes think that if they know their picture is being taken they'll "pose" and whatever I noticed about them won't look as good. Or, more often, I just chicken out.